Austria lose first meeting with Czechia 1:5

Austria struggled in the opening 20 minutes. As expected, our neighbours came out with plenty of pace, moved the puck well and forechecked early in the offensive zone. In the 5th minute, Atte Tolvanen was finally beaten for the first time when Michael Spacek deflected a shot from Filip Pyrochta beyond him. Less than three minutes later, Dominik Kubalik made it 2:0 for the visitors with a powerful shot.

Austria first became genuinely dangerous towards the end of the period, creating several good chances on the power play. In the second period, they were able to match the Czechs' pace much better, played more directly and repeatedly got the puck into the offensive zone. But Czechia were to score again first, capitalising on a penalty against Lucas Thaler to make it 3:0.

Shortly afterwards, Leon Kolarik, playing his first senior international, showed a glimpse of his talent and got his team on the scoresheet after good work by Ian Scherzer. Austria were now fully in the game, but subsequently came agonisingly close to pulling another goal back.

The momentum also remained with the 2024 world champions. In the 43rd minute, Thomas Klassek unfortunately deflected Filip Kral's shot, which bounced over Tolvanen and into the net. Austria's netminder performed well throughout the full 60 minutes and made a big save against the onrushing Daniel Vozelinek shortly before the end of the game. However, Vozelinek got to the puck again and scored to make the final score 1:5.

The return game in Jihlava follows on Friday at 17:00. Next week, Austria host Germany in Zell am See on 30 April, play the return game in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on 2 May and conclude their preparations against Slovenia in Klagenfurt on 9 May.

Head Coach Roger Bader: "The result roughly reflects the level of the two teams. Perhaps it was one goal too many, which came in somewhat bizarre circumstances. Czechia are incredibly strong. They are very quick and have great skills. That was to be expected. Their players all play in Europe's top leagues. Their quick transitions were very impressive. As the game went on, we got more involved in the battles. Games against teams like this make us better, even if we lose them."

Leon Kolarik: "It was a really good feeling to score my first goal in my very first game at home. We were a little asleep for the first 20 minutes, and then you are immediately chasing a 0:2 deficit against Czechia and their quality. We said in the dressing room that we needed to play more simply and get the puck deep. We did that quite well."

World Championship preparation

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

Czechia vs. Austria
Fri., 24 April 2026, 17:00, Jihlava (CZE)

Further World Championship preparation
30.04, 19:00, Zell am See: Austria vs. Germany
02.05, 17:00, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER): Germany vs. Austria
09.05 May, 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 goalscorers: Maximilian Rebernig (9'), Benjamin Nissner (21'), Luca Erne (29'), Lucas Thaler (39'/PP)
Latvia goalscorers: Karlis Ozolins (30'), Glebs Prohorenkovs (33'/PP), Deniss Smirnovs (36')
Game Sheet

Latvia vs. Austria 1:0 (0:0, 0:0, 1:0)
Thu, 9 April 2026, 18:30, Riga (LAT)
Latvia goalscorer: Oskars Lapinski (51')
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 goalscorers: Benjamin Nissner (27', 29'/PP), Peter Schneider (65')
Italy goalscorers: Bryce Misley (30'), Tommaso De Luca (55')
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, Freiburg: 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 involving Austria - (Ticketcorner.ch)
Link to World Championship packages including Austria’s games - (Ticketcorner.ch)