Austria beat Slovenia after a strong perfor­mance in their final warm-up game for Olympic qual­i­fying

For the second warm-up game against Slovenia, Austria head coach Roger Bader placed his trust in netminder David Kickert, who was honoured before the game for his 100th international appearance, which he made at the World Championship in Prague. Thomas Höneckl was in the line-up as the back-up. Both teams traded chances at a brisk pace from the outset, with the ÖEHV selection the better side, playing well in the offensive zone in the first period but lacking efficiency. 

Slovenia were a different story: after a quick counter-attack, Zan Jezovsek scored from the slot to make it 1:0 for the visitors at the 7-minute mark. Little changed in the complexion of the game; Austria were superior, but only lacked a goal.

In the second period, the Slovenians applied more aggressive forechecking, but Austria stood firm and equalised at 1:1 after a brilliantly executed attack. David Reinbacher initiated a swift move to Dominic Zwerger, who played it back to Reinbacher. The defenceman beautifully lifted the puck under the crossbar (26nd minute). 

After that, both teams controlled the game for long stretches. Slovenia were defensively solid during this phase, giving Austria little room to operate. However, as the second period progressed, the Austrians repeatedly managed to move quickly through the neutral zone and create scoring chances. Following another fine attack, Raphael Herburger set up his forward partner Vinzenz Rohrer perfectly, who scored to make it 2:1 for Austria (34 minutes). 

Even after taking the lead for the first time, the Austrians continued to work their way into the offensive zone very effectively, with 3:1 in the air.

Austria continued to establish themselves in the offensive zone at the start of the final period and put Slovenia under pressure. The team coached by head coach Edo Terglav were now mainly occupied with defensive duties, but waited for counter-attacking opportunities. The ÖEHV selection moved both their opponents and the puck very well and played attractive ice hockey, with only the final touch in front of goal missing. In the end, Austria celebrated their second consecutive victory over Slovenia, following their 2:1 overtime win in Bled, with a 2:1 result after 60 minutes.

Head coach Roger Bader: "At times, it was a one-sided game; 40 shots to 13 is a clear verdict. We should already have been 3:0 up in the first period with the clear chances we had, while the middle period was even more one-sided with 16:2 shots. Our finishing was not yet at a high level, and that was also the case in the first game. But we created a lot offensively, applied a lot of pressure, and two wins are two wins. They certainly give us confidence and have helped us gel as a team for next week!"

Vinzenz Rohrer, scorer of the winning goal to make it 2:1: "The game was not easy; 2:1 is certainly a close result. We played very well at times and deserved to win. The goal does me a lot of good, as I had quite a few chances in the recent national team games. The two days off are very important now; in Olympic qualifying, every game will be like a Game Seven in the play-offs!"

David Reinbacher, scorer of the equaliser to make it 1:1: "The Slovenians played very well. Their goalie was incredible again, as he was in the last game. I think we need to raise our efficiency a little more for next week, then things will certainly go well. The start was not easy, Slovenia began well, came out strongly and played simple ice hockey. We overplayed it a little, but then we found our game again. The goal feels good, but it was a team effort!"

ÖEHV delegation travels to Bratislava on Wednesday

After two days off to recover, the ÖEHV delegation will meet in Vienna on Tuesday. Following an afternoon training session, the team will depart for Bratislava on Wednesday morning, where the qualifying tournament for the 2026 Olympic Games in Milano/Cortina d’Ampezzo begins on Thursday at 18:00 with the marquee clash against hosts Slovakia. Like all Austria games, the match will be broadcast on ORF SPORT +.

Olympic qualifying warm-up game

Austria vs. Slovenia 2:1 (0:1,2:0,0:0)
Sat., 24 August 2024, 16:00, Merkur Eisstadion Graz - >> Watch the livestream on RED+
Austria goalscorers: David Reinbacher (26th minute), Vinzenz Rohrer (34th minute)
Slovenia goalscorer:Zan Jezovsek (7th minute)

Austria lined up with:

Goaltenders: 30 Kickert David, 29 Höneckl Thomas (backup)
Line 1: 25 Unterweger Clemens - 12 Maier David; 21 Haudum Lukas - 10 Kasper Marco - 23 Bischofberger Johannes
Line 2: 19 Heinrich Dominique - 4 Reinbacher David; 16 Zwerger Dominic - 18 Baumgartner Benjamin - 3 Schneider Peter
Line 3: 32 Wolf Bernd - 8 Nickl Thimo; 9 Wukovits Ali - 7 Nissner Benjamin - 28 Huber Mario
Line 4: 20 Brunner Nico - 24 Strong Steven; 17 Ganahl Manuel - 22 Herburger Raphael - 13 Rohrer Vinzenz

Already played:

Slovenia vs. Austria 1:2 after overtime (0:0,1:0,0:1,0:1)
Thu, 22 August 2024, 19:00, Bled
Slovenia goalscorer: Rok Macuh (37th minute) 
Austria goalscorer: Marco Kasper (60th, 63rd minute/PP1)

2024 Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Final Qualification, Group D

29 August 2024 - 01 September 2024

Host: Slovakia

Participants: Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Austria, Hungary

The Slovak federation has designated dedicated Austria sections for two matches: sections B11 and B12 for the opening game against Slovakia on 29 August. For the Sunday game, Austria vs. Hungary, sections A5, A6, A7 and A9. The Slovak federation has issued no recommendation or guidance for the Friday game against Kazakhstan. 

The Olympic qualification tournament will be played at Bratislava's Ondrej Nepela Arena, which has a capacity of more than 10.000 spectators and was also a venue for the 2019 World Championship.

Ticket prices for the SVK vs. AUT game
Sections A3, A5, A9, A11, B3, B4, B9, B10 - € 20.-
Sections A4, A10 - € 29.-
Sections A1, A2, A6, A7, A8, A12, B1, B2, B5, B6, B7, B11, B12 - € 15.-
VIP - € 149.-

Ticket prices for the games vs. KAZ & HUN
Sections A3, A4, A5, A9, A10, A11, B3, B4, B9, B10 - € 20.-
Sections A1, A2, A6, A7, A8, A12, B1, B2, B5, B6, B7, B8, B11, B12 - € 10.-

Secure your tickets here!

Schedule:

Thursday, 29 August 2024: 

Kazakhstan vs. Hungary
Bratislava, Ondrej Nepela Arena, 14:00

Slovakia vs. Austria

Bratislava, Ondrej Nepela Arena, 18:00 - >> Live on ORF SPORT +

Friday, 30 August 2024:

Kazakhstan vs. Austria

Bratislava, Ondrej Nepela Arena, 14:00 - >> Live on ORF SPORT +

Hungary vs Slovakia
Bratislava, Ondrej Nepela Arena, 18:00

Sunday, 01 September 2024:

Austria vs Hungary
Bratislava, Ondrej Nepela Arena, 14:00 - >> Live on ORF SPORT +

Slovakia vs Kazakhstan
Bratislava, Ondrej Nepela Arena, 18:00

All information on the official IIHF website