Austria have arrived at the tour­na­ment and now face defending cham­pions Canada

“We did a lot of things much better than against Denmark. We showed the players what had to be different and they implemented it superbly,” praised Head Coach Roger Bader his team’s performance against his fellow countrymen. The 5:6 was one of the best games of recent years, comparable to the 2:1 shoot-out win over the Czech Republic two years ago in Tampere (FIN), according to the head coach.

Austria conceded five of their six goals against while shorthanded. “The fact that we had to take so many penalties also has to do with the quality of players such as Josi and Hischier,” explained Roger Bader. Canada are the next opponents to await, bringing at least as much quality to the ice.

The record world champions’ roster is packed with NHL stars and Andre Tourigny, the man behind the bench who won gold with the Maple Leafs last year. Canada are led by John Tavares, who won Olympic gold with the team in 2014.

Against the birthplace of ice hockey, the focus will be on continuing to promote a direct, simple game. Thimo Nickl will also strengthen the team after joining the national team in Prague on Sunday morning. They can also count on support in the stands. Several hundred red-white-red fans are once again expected. And if everything comes together perfectly, perhaps another sensation can be achieved, just as it was exactly 20 years ago in Prague with the 2:2 draw at the time.

Head to Head AUT vs. CAN

2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

10 - 26 May 2024
Host: Czechia
Group A – Prague: Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Czechia, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Great Britain
Group B – Ostrava: USA, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, Latvia, France, Kazakhstan, Poland

Canada vs. Austria
Tue, 14 May 2024, 20:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Finland vs. Austria
Thu, 16 May 2024, 16:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Czechia vs. Austria
Fri, 17 May 2024, 20:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Norway vs. Austria
Sun, 19 May 2024, 16:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Austria vs. Great Britain
Tue, 21 May 2024, 12:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Already played:

Austria vs. Denmark 1:5 (1:2,0:1,0:2)
Sat, 11 May 2024, 16:20, Prague Arena, 15.719
Austria goalscorer: Manuel Ganahl (20.)
Denmark goalscorers: Markus Lauridsen (14.), Frederik Storm (17./SH1), Joachim Blichfeld (39., 59./PP1), Felix Scheel (54.)

Austria vs. Switzerland 5:6 (2:1,2:3,1:2)
Sun, 12 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 13.512
Austria goalscorers: Clemens Unterweger (5'), Paul Huber (15'), Lukas Haudum (22'/PP1, 35'/PP1), Benjamin Baumgartner (53')
Switzerland goalscorers: Roman Josi (16'/PP2, 30'/PP2), Nico Hischier (23', 41'/PP1, 60'/PP1), Ken Jäger (30'/PP1)