In an interview with La Regione, the 34-year-old goaltender, who is in Conneticut at the moment, declares that he is ready for a return to Switzerland: "I feel in great shape and I still want to play three or four more years. If a team wants to hire me, I would be available immediately. I really would like to return to Switzerland, it is my priority now."
He adds that he still keeps in touch with Sandro Zurkirchen, whose development he is really interested in, and reads all the game summaries of the National League A just to keep up with what is going on in Switzerland, whose "friendly people, food and mountains" he misses.
Schaefer says further that he does not regret his decision to go overseas. However, he does not want to try and find a contract in the AHL, as it is "too difficult to get a good contract at my age and I don't want to do a tryout for a farm team." He has been in contact with Swiss teams, but so far nothing has come of it.
Nolan Schaefer played three season with HC Ambrì-Piotta. He was drafted in 2000 by the San Jose Sharks and played the majority of his career in the American Hockey League, before he came to Switzerland in 2011. In 26 games for HCAP last season, he posted a 2.10 goals against average and a 93.8 save percentage.
