Austria go down 0:4 to Czechia in Jihlava

Benjamin Nissner, Dominic Hackl and Ramon Schnetzer were rested for the return fixture, but all three will rejoin the national team next week.

Austria battled hard against the Czech Republic, but were afforded little space or time by their opponents to build attacks in an orderly fashion. At times, our neighbours virtually camped out in the offensive zone. Austria defended well and could rely on David Kickert in goal. But in the 18th minute, the red-white-red netminder had no chance. The Czech Republic outplayed the defence, and David Tomasek had enough time to set up the puck and finish with precision.

At the start of the second period, Austria created several attacking opportunities. Ian Scherzer found himself in a dangerous position in front of the Czech net, and seconds later Leon Wallner had a great chance to equalise. Shortly afterwards, however, the Czech Republic took control again and were fortunate in a scramble in front of the Austrian net. Michael Spacek just managed to push the puck over the line to make it 2:0 – 28 minutes into the game.

Austria's best chance of the game came in the 30th minute through Mario Huber, whose fierce shot towards the top corner was only denied by the metalwork.

In the 43rd minute, Czechia once again moved the puck fluidly and played their way past every Austrian. Only Kickert could not be deceived, making another big save to keep his team in the game. Following the penalty against Thimo Nickl in the 46th minute, just three seconds had run off the clock before it was 0:3. Czechia won the face-off in the offensive zone and the puck went straight to Michael Spacek, who had a clear shooting lane and fired home unstoppably. Marcel Marcel put the finishing touch on the game in the 57th minute as Austria lost 0:4 to Czechia.

Head Coach Roger Bader: "The Czechs were clearly the better team, just as they were yesterday in Vienna. They are playing for medals, while we are fighting to stay in the top division. They were already very strong in terms of personnel this week, so we could not compete with them in terms of results, but we benefited from the increased tempo and intensity that the players are not used to. Today, we spent 60 minutes defending. We showed good defensive play and had an outstanding goaltender in David Kickert, but we barely had any opportunities to create offence. That is down to the high quality of the opposition. But we have benefited from both games."

David Kickert: "I would say that the two games showed us how fast and intense the games at the World Championship will be. We have some players with us who have never experienced that before. It was a good test and good training to get everyone ready and show them how little time you have on the ice. The Czechs are not only extremely strong in terms of their hockey, but also physically. We felt that. They did not let up for a second and were always going full throttle. That certainly caused us problems. It showed me that it can be a preview of what is to come. We still have to work on a few things. I think we are still a little short of getting used to the tempo and the level at the moment."

World Championship warm-up

Czechia vs. Austria 4:0 (1:0, 1:0, 2:0)
Fri, 24 April 2026, 17:00, Jihlava (CZE)
Czechia goalscorers: David Tomasek (18), Michael Spacek (28, 46/PP), Marcel Marcel (57)

Further World Championship warm-up games
30.04, 19:00, Zell am See: Austria vs. Germany
02.05, 17:00, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER): Germany vs. Austria
09.05, 16:20, Klagenfurt: Austria vs. Slovenia
ÖEHV ticket shop

Already played
Latvia vs. Austria 3:4 (0:1, 3:3, 0:0)
Wed, 8 April 2026, 18:30, Riga (LAT)
Austria scorers: Maximilian Rebernig (9th), Benjamin Nissner (21st), Luca Erne (29th), Lucas Thaler (39th/PP)
Latvia scorers: Karlis Ozolins (30th), Glebs Prohorenkovs (33rd/PP), Deniss Smirnovs (36th)
Game Sheet

Latvia vs. Austria 1:0 (0:0, 0:0, 1:0)
Thu, 9 April 2026, 18:30, Riga (LAT)
Latvia scorer: Oskars Lapinski (51st)
Game Sheet

Austria vs. Italy 3:2 n.P. (0:0, 2:1, 0:1, 1:0)
Thu, 16 April 2026, 19:00, Dornbirn
Austria scorers: Benjamin Nissner (27th, 29th/PP), Peter Schneider (65th)
Italy scorers: Bryce Misley (30th), Tommaso De Luca (55th)
Game Sheet

Austria vs. Czechia 1:5 (0:2, 1:1, 0:2)
Thu, 23 April 2026, 19:00, Steffl Arena Vienna
Austria scorer: Leon Kolarik (32nd)
Czechia scorers: Michael Spacek (5th), Dominik Kubalik (8th), Daniel Tomasek (31st), Filip Kral (43rd), Daniel Vozelinek (56th)
Game Sheet

2026 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

15 May 2026 – 31 May 2026, Zurich and Fribourg (SUI)
Defending 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)