Beaten by Gerber? Join the Growing Club

In a hockey tournament that’s been full of surprises, Switzerland’s 2-0 upset of defending Olympic champion Canada on Saturday stands out as a stunner.

Maybe it shouldn’t have been so astonishing. After all, Swiss goaltender Martin Gerber has played superbly this season for the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes -- and before that, for the Mighty Ducks.

Two days after David Aebischer, Switzerland’s other goalie, had led the Swiss to a 3-2 victory over the world champion Czechs, Gerber matched that performance with a 49-save effort against Canada. Gerber, a native of Burgdorf, Switzerland, stopped 24 shots in the third period to frustrate Canada’s comeback attempt and establish Switzerland as an emerging force in hockey’s new world order.

“We knew they were going to come out and pepper our net,” Gerber said. “I thought we played really well. We were confident and we didn’t overreact. We knew we’d have to be perfect in the first 20 minutes and we sacrificed to play as a team.”

Switzerland’s Coach Ralph Krueger was equally pleased.

“We had a wall in net, in Mr. Gerber,” Krueger said. “We have two of the best goalies in the world.”

In a short tournament, goaltending is immensely valuable. And because Gerber and Aebischer have played so well, the Olympic tournament will last a little longer for the energetic and entertaining Swiss.

After opening with a 5-0 loss to Finland and rebounding for those triumphs over the Czechs and Canadians, Switzerland finished Group A play with ties on Sunday and Tuesday against two weak foes, Germany and Italy. With a 2-1-2 record and six points, Switzerland finished second to Finland in its group, setting up a quarterfinal matchup today against Sweden, the third-place team in Group B.

The Swiss had clinched a playoff spot after their tie with Germany, easing the tension in their finale on Tuesday.

“We had a goal to make it to the quarters but we thought we would be fighting Germany for the final spot,” Gerber said. “We were hoping we could make it but realistically thought it would go down to the last game.”

No matter what happens today, these Games have been a big improvement for the Swiss over their performance four years ago in Salt Lake City. The format then required Switzerland and other non-hockey powers to play a preliminary round before the NHL took its Olympic break and the superstars arrived. The Swiss were 1-2 in that play-in round and didn’t advance.

The format has since changed, and all 12 teams started the same day here.

“We’re getting to a higher level, step by step,” Gerber said.

Gerber, 31, spent his first five professional seasons with the Swiss team Langnau before he signed with Farjestads of the Swedish Elite League. He led that tough league in the 2001-02 season with four shutouts and a 1.96 goals-against average, catching the eye of NHL scouts. The Ducks chose him 232nd overall in the 2001 entry draft, and he quickly adapted to the North American game. In the 2002-03 season, as the backup to Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Gerber had a 1.95 goals-against average in 22 games as the Ducks reached the Stanley Cup finals.

The Ducks slumped the next season but Gerber did not. He had a 2.26 goals-against average in 32 games, with two shutouts, and began to believe he could be a starter in the NHL. The Ducks, who were committed to Giguere and were nurturing the career of youngster Ilya Bryzgalov, traded Gerber to Carolina in June 2004 for Tomas Malec and a third-round draft pick.

Gerber has thrived in Carolina, where he had a .902 save percentage and 2.73 goals-against average in 40 games before the NHL took its Olympic break. With 28 wins, he’s tied for third in the NHL behind Miikka Kiprusoff of Calgary and Marty Turco of Dallas, and is a key factor in the Hurricanes’ Eastern Conference-leading record.

The NHL, however, can wait for a while. Gerber and his Swiss teammates have some business to take care of today, and he hopes the team can regain its focus after what he considered subpar efforts against Germany and Italy.

Making the playoffs, he said Tuesday, “is very good, but thinking on today’s game, I can’t be satisfied. We’re disappointed. We would have liked to win this game.... We’ll surely have to play better than today.”