Last year, following Switzerland’s 2-0 loss to Czechia at the World Championship final in Prague, Andres Ambühl spoke barely above a whisper. There was a feeling that the 40-year-old might have missed his last chance to win a gold medal.
“I’m not thinking about that at the moment,” he said at the time about the possibility of returning to play this season. “We’ll see what the future brings in the next few days but at the moment, that’s not in my head.”
Ambühl was already the all-time leader in top-division IIHF World Championship tournaments with 19 and games played with 141. This season, playing for HC Davos, he also became the domestic National League’s all-time games played leader, finishing with 1091 regular-season games and another 231 in the playoffs.
In February, Ambühl announced that this season is definitely his last.
Following Switzerland’s 7-0 semifinal win, he said about the Danes, “They came pretty strong in the first period but we were ready and found a way to score those first three goals, and I think that helped us big time.”
That win puts Switzerland in the final for the second straight year, and for Ambühl, it will be the third final of his career. Of course, neither Ambühl nor Switzerland has ever won a World Championship gold.
“I think last year was a really tight game for almost 60 minutes, but of course, we want to do it better than last year and finally win,” he said.
For Switzerland, there will surely be other chances, but for now 41-year-old Ambühl, it certainly will be the final one, and his teammates are all aware of that.
“Yeah, of course,” said defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler. “You know, it’s gonna be his last game so … We’re such a tight team and everybody’s going for everybody, and especially for him. We want to make the perfect career ending.”
Sunday’s final in Stockholm against the USA will be Ambühl’s 151st and last World Championship game.
Asked what kind of game he expects, Ambühl said, “High intensity, physical, high speed and, yeah, it’s gonna be fun.”
Photo © Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images: Andres Ambühl playing for Switzerland at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
