Veteran Andres Ambuhl scored his first goals at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. His sixth-minute marker triggered an Alpine avalanche that brought a 10-0 victory over Hungary and he went on to complete a hat-trick.

That treble set records a-tumbling. At 41, Ambuhl is the oldest player to pot an Ice Hockey World Championship hat-trick. He also moves to second in all-time scoring for Switzerland, behind the great Bibi Torriani. And he becomes just the fifth Swiss player to score 30 goals at this tournament.


Ambuhl himself was modest about his latest milestones, but Christoph Bertschy was happy to talk up his team-mate.

“I think that’s another record nobody’s ever going to beat,” he said. “He’s an unbelievable guy on the ice, unbelievable guy in the locker room. I’m really proud of him, really happy for him to achieve such things. It’s unbelievable to see at this age how he still performs on this level.”

Ambuhl was supported by Timo Meier and Dominik Egli with two goals apiece, Janis Moser ended with 1+3 and Kevin Fiala contributed a goal and two assists in a dominant Swiss display. Hungary had a hard time generating offence throughout, mustering just six shots at Leonardo Genoni.

“It was a tough game for us,” said Hungarian forward Vilmos Gallo. “We let them have too many chances, and they created a lot. It wasn’t good enough. 10-0 is pretty bad in ice hockey. We have to take some wisdom from it, learn from the game, and go on.”

Switzerland, already secure in the quarter-finals, has an eye on the latter stages of the tournament. As a result, Patrick Fischer opted to rest Jonas Siegenthaler, Denis Malgin and Sven Andrighetto. Similarly, Hungary chose to give some recuperation time to Henrik Nilsson and Istvan Terbocs ahead of tomorrow’s vital relegation battle against Norway.

The Swiss selection dispensed with a partnership that had combined for five goals in the previous two games – but there was no shortage of attacking intent. Fiala’s deflected point shot hit the bar early and he dinged the piping again late in the opening frame.

Between those near misses, Switzerland scored two in 2:19 to assume control of the game.

It started with a crowd-pleasing moment as Ambuhl marked his 146th IIHF World Championship appearance with his first goal of this year’s tournament. The Davos forward took up his usual position in front of Hungarian goalie Adam Vay. Egli fired in the point shot, Ambuhl supplied the redirect, Switzerland led 1-0.

Then Meier got his first goal of the tournament. This was all about speed of thought and deed as he took a pass from Dean Kukan in centre ice, turned at speed to blaze into the Hungarian zone, bisecting two defenders before firing past Vay.

At the other end, Hungary struggled to generate offence. Whatever team Switzerland puts out, the defensive discipline remains intact and Genoni had just three saves to make in the first period.

“I’d have to ask Leo [Genoni] how he felt back there!” added Bertschy “But the way we played, we didn’t give them anything. I’m really proud of the team, really proud of the commitment we had today. We want to keep going like that.”

For long spells, this was a fairly uneventful game. Hungary continued to work hard without making much impression on the Swiss defence; Switzerland was content to dictate the play without really forcing the pace.

However, midway through the second period we saw another flurry of quick goals. On 31:57, Egli fired in another point shot and saw it take a deflection into the net off Zsombor Garat. Then, 90 seconds later, Meier had his second of the night. That could hardly have been a simpler finish, tapping into an open net after Tyler Moy’s blast got through Vay.

Vay’s luck was out: Switzerland’s next attack of significance brought a great stop as the Hungarian netminder denied Nicolas Baechler at the back door after a fine feed from Meier. But Baechler recycled the puck, and Moser unleashed a rocket of a shot that gave Vay no chance as the Swiss padded the lead to 5-0 on 35:21.

Christian Marti, who finished with two assists, was impressed with the way his team maintained a professional approach from start to finish.

“It’s always kind of tough to get into a game like this,” he said. “You kind of know your opponent, you kind of know what to expect, but it’s still hard to be as ready as you would be to play the U.S. or Germany or whatever. 

“I think we did that well. We didn’t underestimate them. We didn’t think we’re better than them. We played our game. We stayed patient, even though it was only 2-0 after the first. At the end, the score looks brutal, but I think we earned it with the way we played.”

Hungary got on the power play at the start of the third and Gallo gave Genoni a rare test. At the other end, the Swiss had the puck in the net but Fiala had strayed into the crease and the play was called back. Then Fiala hit the post again just before Egli rattled in a sixth goal with a fine shot that beat Vay to the short side.

Then Ambuhl reached 30 goals at this level when he made it 7-0 midway through the final stanza. Andrea Glauser added an eighth goal in the 55th minute but this was Ambuhl's night and he completed his hat-trick with 67 seconds left on the clock. Finally, Fiala had the last word to bring up double figures on a rough night for Hungary.

Switzerland rounds off the preliminary round against Kazakhstan, and another win might be enough for top spot in Group A. Hungary, meanwhile, needs to get something from Monday's game against Norway to ensure it is back next year.