BERTSCHY ADJUSTING TO NEW LIFE IN IOWA
Oct 19, 2015By Tom Witosky| Follow @toskyAHLWild
If Christoph Bertschy is good at one thing, it’s adjusting to his surroundings.
The 21-year-old Swiss native has spent much of his young life doing just that, whether it was learning to speak fluent French and English to go along with his native German, or now learning how to play North American professional hockey for the Iowa Wild.
“Bertschy is a good worker and going to be a good two-way player,” John Torchetti, the Wild’s head coach, predicted recently. “He has to get used to time and space on the ice coming from the Olympic sheet, but he is showing that he is great competitor.”
Bertschy introduced himself to Wild fans with his first professional goal against Charlotte when he beat Checkers goaltender Drew McIntyre with an unexpected rush down the ice during a Wild penalty kill. Bertschy’s shot trickled between McIntyre’s arm and body as PK partner Brady Brassert was coming down on the opposite side of the ice.
“It felt great, but I didn’t expect it to go in,” Bertschy said with a laugh. “I just shot it at the net because I saw Brassie going hard to the net. I was trying to put the puck on the far side of the net. “
Doing the unexpected has been a Bertschy trademark since his junior hockey days in Switzerland, which began in his home town of Fribourg, but changed dramatically when he transferred to Bern SC, one of the top junior and professional clubs in Swiss hockey.
“I was 15 when I went from Fribourg to Bern in juniors, but I had struggled a lot when I played. I thought I had to fight for a place even on the fourth line,” he said.
Instead, Bertschy began an immediate climb up the ladder during the 2009-10 season when the Bern staff elevated him to playing with the U-17 team and discovered he could play well on the U-20 team. In 2010-11, Bertschy was the third-leading scorer for Bern’s U-20 team and skated for Switzerland at the 2011 U-18 World Junior Championship and U-17 European Youth Olympic Festival tournaments.
Torchetti said that Bertschy, despite his lack of size, is blessed with great speed and excellent vision on the ice. “He also competes like a hard-nosed dog,” he said.
Minnesota drafted Bertschy in 2012 after his first season in the Swiss A league when they chose him in the sixth round. At the time, Bertschy had never talked to the Wild.
“I was in contact with a few NHL teams but I hadn’t talked to Minnesota at all,” he recalled.
In fact, Bertschy wasn’t anticipating getting drafted at all that night. He was with friends at a cookout in Bern when his agent called.
“My agent called me around 9 or 10 and I was wondering what he wanted.” he said.
When told the Wild had drafted him, Bertschy’s was more than surprised.
“Are you kidding, man? Like seriously?” he asked. “It could not have been a better moment.”
Signed by the Wild to an entry-level contract this year, Bertschy hopes to join fellow Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter, one day with the NHL club. Both players are members of the Swiss National hockey team.
“If Nino has a year like he did last year, he is going to be one of the biggest forwards in Switzerland,” Bertschy said.
As for his progress, Bertschy understands he has a lot to learn before he will be ready to play in the National Hockey League.
“Adjusting to smaller surface is giving me some trouble and I need to figure it out,” he said. “You have no time at all. You have to know what you are going to do even before you get where you are going because the pressure is going to be there.”
But Torchetti said that he has a lot of confidence that Bertschy will make the adjustment.
“He is definitely projected as a top six forward,” Torchetti said. “Everything we have done so far is all fixable with a lot of work in film and in practice.”
Off the ice, Bertschy , who is single, is also making adjustments to living in the U.S. for the first time. He said that the biggest difference is just “how big everything is here” and how he needs to get a car.
“Everyone walks on the streets in Switzerland. We have cafes where we can sit outside drink tea and coffee. That is kind of my thing. I don’t like to sit at home,” he said.
Now, Bertschy said, he needs to get a car, but first he has to get an Iowa driver’s license. “I’ve passed the written test, but still have to do the driver’s test. I should be fine, but it is an adjustment.”
Slapshots:
--A quick look at the Swiss National team roster discloses there is another Iowa connection on the team along with Bertschy. Goalie Tobias Stephan, who played two seasons in Des Moines for the Iowa Stars, is also on the national team roster.
-- Injuries to Zac Dalpe in the Wild’s first game and Grayson Downing, who has yet to play, has thrown a bit of monkey wrench in Torchetti’s plans. “Down two centers is like losing a Parise, that’s one point a game,” Torchetti said. He said that Jordan Schroeder’s reassignment to Iowa helps solidify the first two lines, but he’s worried Dalpe, who has a lower body injury, might not be back for a while.
--Torchetti praised the arrival of goalie Jeremy Smith, who is playing on loan from the Boston Bruins. “Smitty is probably our best competitor so far. He is definitely dialed in and I have noticed how the rest of team is feeding off his energy. He has it in practice, games, everything.” One potential problem is that Boston can call him back to play there at any time. Torchetti said.
--Despite the club’s stumbles in the first two games, Torchetti sees a difference in this year’s team. “We have 14 of first 19 games at home and we certainly didn’t want to start out the way we did. We have a long ways to go, but we are getting better as a team every day, I can see that.”