Austria begin World Championship preparations with 24 players
Austria’s men’s national ice hockey team will gather in Vienna for their first training session on Easter Sunday. Head coach Roger Bader has called up 24 players for the first of five preparation weeks, which will conclude with two friendly matches against Latvia in Riga (LAT). In the second week, the team will make its first appearance in Austria, hosting Italy in Feldkirch on 16 April.
4 min read
The current squad already includes established players such as Bernd Wolf, Benjamin Nissner, Lucas Thaler and Ramon Schnetzer, as well as Dominic Hackl and Philipp Wimmer, who also bring World Championship experience.
The average age is exactly 24 years. Roger Bader has also included two players, Jonathan Oschgan (17) and Paul Sintschnig (17), who will compete for promotion to the World Championship Division IA with the U18 national team at the end of April.
“The start of World Championship preparations in particular is always exciting, as several young players are always given the opportunity to show what they can do at the beginning,” explains Roger Bader, who has once again demonstrated that he is not afraid to throw young players in at the deep end. In recent years, young talents have repeatedly played their way into the World Championship squad. “It is always exciting to see who improves over the course of these camps, giving us reason to keep them in the squad every week. The two matches against Latvia are now an initial opportunity for players to perform.”
This is already the third consecutive year that the team has played a double-header against Latvia to open its World Championship preparations. This fixture has already been confirmed for next year as well, when it will again be played in Austria.
Roger Bader: “We want to play two good games and for the players to show us coaches why we should take them with us on the road to the World Championship, why they are candidates for the World Championship.”
The matches will be played in the World Championship arena from 2023, which holds around 10.500 spectators. According to the Latvian federation, both games will be played in front of a near-capacity crowd.
World Championship preparation camp squad #1
Surname | First name | Pos | Height | Weight | Date of birth | R/L | Club | GP | G | A | PIM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
30 | OSCHGAN | Benedikt | GK | 186,0 | 83,0 | 05.07.2005 | L | Västerås IK (SWE) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
1 | VORAUER | Florian | GK | 187,0 | 79,0 | 09.12.1999 | L | EC KAC (AUT) | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
29 | WRANESCHITZ | Sebastian | GK | 182,0 | 80,0 | 06.03.2002 | L | EV Vienna Capitals (AUT) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
5 | HACKL | Dominic | D | 186,0 | 86,0 | 08.11.1996 | L | EV Vienna Capitals (AUT) | 42 | 0 | 2 | 14 | |
10 | KLASSEK | Thomas | D | 182,0 | 83,0 | 18.02.2005 | L | RPI Engineers (USA) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
13 | KRAGL | Gerd | D | 178,0 | 84,0 | 23.06.1997 | L | Steinbach Black Wings Linz (AUT) | 27 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
4 | SCHNETZER | Ramon | D | 178,0 | 83,0 | 12.08.1996 | L | Pioneers Vorarlberg Eishockeyclub (AUT) | 69 | 3 | 7 | 24 | |
16 | SÖLLINGER | Patrick | D | 186,0 | 93,0 | 05.08.2004 | L | Steinbach Black Wings Linz (AUT) | 17 | 1 | 0 | 14 | |
12 | WIMMER | Philipp | D | 193,0 | 93,0 | 13.12.2001 | L | EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) | 38 | 0 | 1 | 35 | |
32 | WOLF | Bernd | D | 178,0 | 84,0 | 23.02.1997 | L | EHC Kloten (SUI) | 117 | 6 | 17 | 62 | |
6 | WÜRSCHL | Niklas | D | 180,0 | 78,0 | 28.08.1999 | R | Steinbach Black Wings Linz (AUT) | 13 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
3 | ANTONITSCH | Sam | F | 182,0 | 87,0 | 03.01.1996 | L | EV Vienna Capitals (AUT) | 17 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
26 | ERNE | Luca | F | 193,0 | 98,0 | 26.01.2004 | R | Pioneers Vorarlberg Eishockeyclub (AUT) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
18 | KOSCHEK | Felix | F | 185,0 | 80,0 | 23.10.2005 | L | EV Vienna Capitals (AUT) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
25 | NEUBAUER | Henrik | F | 183,0 | 90,0 | 15.04.1997 | R | Steinbach Black Wings Linz (AUT) | 27 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
7 | NISSNER | Benjamin | F | 181,0 | 80,0 | 30.11.1997 | L | EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) | 53 | 9 | 13 | 24 | |
23 | OSCHGAN | Jonathan | F | 184,0 | 81,0 | 18.05.2008 | R | Steinbach Black Wings Linz (AUT) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
24 | REBERNIG | Maximilian | F | 192,0 | 97,0 | 03.09.2000 | L | Eishockeyclub EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV (AUT) | 17 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
21 | SCHERZER | Ian | F | 181,0 | 89,0 | 03.07.2005 | L | RPI Engineers (USA) | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
19 | SINTSCHNIG | Paul | F | 185,0 | 77,0 | 11.03.2009 | L | Eishockeyclub EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV (AUT) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
15 | THALER | Lucas | F | 180,0 | 76,0 | 21.01.2002 | R | EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) | 49 | 8 | 8 | 39 | |
22 | WALLENTA | Elias | F | 182,0 | 85,0 | 04.01.1999 | L | Eishockeyclub EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV (AUT) | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
11 | WALLNER | Leon | F | 185,0 | 88,0 | 01.07.2002 | R | EV Vienna Capitals (AUT) | 23 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
28 | WASCHNIG | David | F | 180,0 | 79,0 | 24.04.2007 | L | EC KAC (AUT) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
|
|
| Ø | 183,7 | 84,7 | 24,0 |
|
| 579 | 35 | 62 | 256 | |
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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PREPARATION OVERVIEW (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
08.04, 19:00, Riga (LAT): Latvia vs. Austria
09.04, 19:00, Riga (LAT): Latvia vs. Austria
16.04, 19:00, Feldkirch: Austria vs. Italy - >> order tickets now!
23.04, 19:00, Vienna: Austria vs. Czechia - >> order tickets now!
24.04, 17:30, Jihlava (CZE): Czechia vs. Austria
30.04, 19:00, Zell am See: Austria vs. Germany - >> order tickets now!
02.05, 17:00, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER): Germany vs. Austria
09.05, 16:20, Klagenfurt: Austria vs. Slovenia - >> order tickets now!
2026 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
15 May 2026 – 31 May 2026, Zurich and Fribourg (SUI)
Reigning champions: USA
Group A, Zurich: USA, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Austria, Hungary, Great Britain
Group B, Fribourg: Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Denmark, Slovakia, Norway, Slovenia, Italy
Schedule
Great Britain vs. Austria
Sat, 16 May 2026, 12:20, Swiss Life Arena
Austria vs. Hungary
Sun, 17 May 2026, 16:20, Swiss Life Arena
Latvia vs. Austria
Tue, 19 May 2026, 16:20, Swiss Life Arena
Austria vs. Switzerland
Wed, 20 May 2026, 16:20, Swiss Life Arena
Austria vs. Germany
Sat, 23 May 2026, 20:20, Swiss Life Arena
Finland vs. Austria
Sun, 24 May 2026, 20:20, Swiss Life Arena
USA vs. Austria
Tue, 26 May 2026, 16:20, Swiss Life Arena
Information on World Championship ticket sales at 2026.iihfworlds.com!
Link to World Championship tickets for Zurich and Fribourg (Ticketcorner.ch)
Link to individual games featuring Austria - (Ticketcorner.ch)
Link to World Championship packages including Austria’s games - (Ticketcorner.ch)
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