ÖEHV

Austria is ready for the Olympic dream

Bratislava, sunshine, 30 degrees – that was how the Slovak capital welcomed Austria's men's national ice hockey team on Wednesday morning. In the coming days, they will battle hosts Slovakia, Kazakhstan and Hungary for a ticket to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d´Ampezzo (ITA).

4 min read

20240824 Jubel Vinzenz Rohrer_c_GEPA-Chris Bauer

Opening against Slovakia on Thursday at 18:00, Austria will face the No. 9 team in the world rankings and therefore the first nation not to have qualified directly for the Olympic Winter Games. Our neighbours boast numerous players from North America, as well as the KHL and the Czech Extraliga. "Slovakia are the strongest possible opponents we could have, they reach the World Championship quarter-finals almost every year and are also very well stocked with individual talent. We need a superb game to beat them, but it is possible," analyses Head Coach Roger Bader.

While Austria played two warm-up games against Slovenia in Bled (SLO) and Graz last week, winning both 2:1, Slovakia did not play any preparation matches. Around 17 hours after the end of the opening game, Austria will be back on the ice against Kazakhstan on Friday at 14:00. Kazakhstan finished the 2024 World Championship in 12th place. They come to the Olympic qualification tournament with a squad packed with KHL players. "Kazakhstan may be less well known in Central Europe, as they are not seen here as often. Most of their squad play for Barys Astana. They are all good players," says Roger Bader.

The Swiss coach also expects a close contest against final opponents Hungary on Sunday at 14:00: "It is a tough group, but you have to earn your place at the Olympics and we will do everything to make sure we achieve that."

The top 8 teams in the world rankings – Canada, Russia, Finland, Czechia, Switzerland, the USA, Sweden and Germany – along with hosts Italy, have qualified automatically for the Olympic Winter Games. In the three final qualification tournaments in Bratislava (SVK), Riga (LAT) and Aalborg (DEN), the respective group winners will secure their Olympic tickets.

According to official IIHF information, it additionally states: “Should any qualified team ultimately not play at the Olympic Games, then they will be replaced by the best 2nd-ranked team from the Combined Ranking of the three Final Olympic Qualification Groups played this week”. According to the IIHF, a decision on Russia's participation in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games is to be made in February 2025.

2024 OLYMPIC MEN'S ICE HOCKEY FINAL QUALIFICATION, GROUP D

29 August 2024 - 01 September 2024

Hosts: Slovakia

Participants: Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Austria, Hungary

>> Secure tickets here!

Schedule and results:


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

Olympic Qualifying squad

Surname

First name

Pos

Height

Weight

Date of birth

R/L

Club

GP

G

A

PIM

29

HÖNECKL

Thomas

GK

188,0          92,0

10.10.1989

L

Steinbach Black Wings Linz (AUT)

26

0

0

2

30

KICKERT

David

GK

188,0          81,0

16.03.1994

L

EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)

102

0

0

2

1

VORAUER

Florian

GK

187,0          79,0

09.12.1999

L

EC-KAC (AUT)

14

0

0

0

19

HEINRICH

Dominique

D

175,0          76,0

31.07.1990

L

EV spusu Vienna Capitals (AUT)

114

20

25

24

12

MAIER

David

D

187,0          85,0

12.01.2000

R

EC-KAC (AUT)

68

1

9

57

8

NICKL

Thimo

D

188,0          80,0

04.12.2001

R

EC-KAC (AUT)

28

1

2

21

4

REINBACHER

David

D

189,0          85,0

25.10.2004

R

Montreal Canadiens (CAN)

12

1

5

2

26

STAPELFELDT

Paul

D

197,0         100,0

20.09.1998

L

EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)

18

0

0

6

25

UNTERWEGER

Clemens

D

183,0          85,0

01.04.1992

L

EC-KAC (AUT)

75

5

19

28

32

WOLF

Bernd

D

178,0          84,0

23.02.1997

L

EHC Kloten (SUI)

93

3

14

50

14

ZÜNDEL

Kilian

D

180,0          80,0

17.01.2001

R

Moser Medical Graz99ers (AUT)

70

2

6

26

18

BAUMGARTNER

Benjamin

F

176,0          78,0

22.04.2000

L

SC Bern (SUI)

54

12

15

28

23

BISCHOFBERGER

Johannes

F

172,0          70,0

13.07.1994

L

EC-KAC (AUT)

10

2

4

2

17

GANAHL

Manuel

F

182,0          81,0

12.07.1990

L

Moser Medical Graz99ers (AUT)

148

24

26

121

21

HAUDUM

Lukas

F

183,0          84,0

21.05.1997

L

Moser Medical Graz99ers (AUT)

111

28

29

36

22

HERBURGER

Raphael

F

178,0          75,0

02.01.1989

L

EC-KAC (AUT)

95

15

25

66

27

HUBER

Paul

F

193,0         101,0

10.06.2000

L

Moser Medical Graz99ers (AUT)

49

4

1

8

28

HUBER

Mario

F

188,0          85,0

08.08.1996

R

EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)

60

10

14

18

10

KASPER

Marco

F

184,0          80,0

08.04.2004

L

Detroit Red Wings (USA)

18

5

4

12

7

NISSNER

Benjamin

F

181,0          80,0

30.11.1997

L

EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)

48

8

10

20

13

ROHRER

Vinzenz

F

178,0          73,0

09.09.2004

R

ZSC Lions (SUI)

15

1

2

12

3

SCHNEIDER

Peter

F

183,0          91,0

04.04.1991

R

EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)

75

21

29

32

15

THALER

Lucas

F

180,0          76,0

21.01.2002

R

EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)

31

6

6

31

9

WUKOVITS

Ali

F

184,0          83,0

09.05.1996

L

EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)

54

3

7

20

16

ZWERGER

Dominic

F

183,0          93,0

16.07.1996

L

HC Ambri-Piotta (SUI)

79

17

29

37

 

 

 

Avg.

183,4           83,1

26,8

 

 

1467

189

281

661

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