153 senior inter­na­tional appear­ances for Austria: former team captain Thomas Koch ends his career

With the Austrian senior national team, Thomas Koch took part in eleven World Championships (six times – 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 – in the top division and five times in the second tier) as well as the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

At the age of 18 years and 239 days, the Klagenfurt native made his debut for the Austrian senior national team on 13 April 2002 in a friendly international against Germany in Rosenheim.

The versatile athlete – in addition to ice hockey, the son of Austria Klagenfurt legend Walter "Dago" Koch, hence his nickname "Dago", was also a very good football and tennis player in his youth – joined the youth department of his home club EC-KAC in the 1990/91 season, to which he would subsequently belong for a total of 26 seasons – 17 of them with the first team.

The centre made his debut for the Red Jackets’ professional team at the age of just 16, and was only 21 when he earned a move to Luleå Hockey in Sweden’s top division, an engagement that would ultimately span two seasons.

From 2006 onwards, Thomas Koch represented EC Red Bull Salzburg for five seasons. Having previously won three titles in four years, he fired the club to its fourth championship in his final game for the club – in overtime of the seventh and decisive final, of all places in his hometown, to which he would officially return a few days later. The forward then spent another twelve seasons with his home club, three of them as captain.

It is there that Thomas Koch is now also ending his active career, during which he played 1.508 games as a professional (1.355 at club level and 153 for the senior national team) and celebrated a total of ten championships (with EC-KAC in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2013, 2019 and 2021, and with EC Salzburg in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011).

ÖEHV Sporting Director Roger Bader: “Unfortunately, Thomas was a national-team player before my time. I could very well have imagined him in my team. You are always happy to have a player with his abilities and character in your team. I am impressed by his outstanding career and wish him all the best in his sporting retirement.”