Austria lose first World Cham­pi­onship warm-up against runners-up Germany

Austria Head Coach Roger Bader gave the newly arrived goaltender David Kickert the start in the first of two World Championship warm-up games against Germany. Red-White-Red made a very good start to the game in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, matched the hosts early on and had the best chance through Dominic Zwerger. 

After a Marc Michaelis double (in the 8 and 11 minutes), Austria suddenly found themselves 0:2 behind. The ÖEHV selection then had their first power play, during which Austria’s opening goal was in the air after a spell of sustained pressure. The goal to pull one back came a minute after the power play had expired: Dominic Zwerger launched a quick attack, Benjamin Baumgartner fired a powerful wrist shot at the goal of DEB netminder Tobias Ančička, who was able to make a brief save. Baumgartner poked the rebound into the net with his backhand to make it 1:2 (in the 16 minute). 

Towards the end of the first period, Austria successfully killed off their first penalty.

The two teams continued their intense battle in the second period, with every shift showing that the World Championship is drawing ever closer. Germany had the edge in terms of possession, but Austria defended well and stayed close to their opponents. 

Germany changed goaltender shortly before the midway point of the game, with Florian Bugl replacing Ančička between the pipes. As the middle period progressed, Austria also created more offensively, with the Red-White-Red players pinning the Germans in their own defensive zone at times. The deserved equaliser came during this spell of pressure: Dominique Heinrich passed to Lukas Kainz, who fired straight away and scored from the slot to make it 2:2 (in the 38 minute).

After successfully killing off a penalty, Austria started the final period with plenty of confidence and were unlucky when Nico Brunner fired a powerful shot off the crossbar. Zwerger and company continued to play very well offensively and also created chances. The hosts gradually began to take control again. 

The ÖEHV team now had more defensive duties to deal with and conceded during this phase: Daniel Fischbuch poked the loose puck over the line for Germany to make it 3:2 after a save by David Kickert (in the 50 minute). The Germans pressed on and extended their lead on the power play, with Parker Tuomie scoring from close range to make it 4:2 (in the 52 minute), which was also the final score. The home game against the DEB team follows in Zell am See on Saturday from 16:15. The match will once again be shown live on ORF SPORT +.

Bader: "Many things were very good today"

Head Coach Roger Bader assessed the game after the final siren: “I am very satisfied with our performance today; we were on a par with Germany. We were even the better side in the second period, while the final period was even. At 2:2, we hit the post and could have taken a 3:2 lead, and who knows how the game might then have ended. Very many things were very good today, including much of what we had set out to do. We have never had so many scoring chances in a warm-up game before, and that against a good opponent!”

For Saturday’s return match, the Head Coach expects a new line-up: “We are focusing more on ourselves than on the opponent. Some players will leave us today. Other players will join us on Friday; they have already been training in Zell am See. It is about integrating the new players, and that is now the priority. We hope that we can play a great game on Saturday. We will not change anything tactically; we will try to improve our game. Now we have to see how the seven new players look in training on Friday and whether they are ready to play on Saturday!”

Lukas Kainz, scorer of the 2:2 equaliser and Austria's best player of the evening, reflects on the first match against Germany: "It was a good game for long stretches, a good warm-up match. We showed that we are already close. But we still need to get many little things right so that we can win games or at least take points. We have to be alert every second in the defensive zone. When such good players are on the ice, you cannot afford any mistakes. Being able to play here in Garmisch in front of a full house against Germany is a great honour for me, and then being named Austria's best player is certainly a highlight of my career so far. We want to make amends for today's defeat on Saturday!"

MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PREPARATION

Germany vs. Austria 4:2 (2:1,0:1,2:0)
Thu, 25 April 2024, 19:00, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER)
Germany goalscorers: Marc Michaelis (8', 11'), Daniel Fischbuch (50'), Parker Tuomie (52'/PP1)
Austria goalscorers: Benjamin Baumgartner (16'), Lukas Kainz (38')

Further matches:

Austria vs. Germany
Sat, 27 April 2024, 16:15, Zell am See, live on ORF SPORT +

Austria vs. Canada
Sun, 5 May 2024, 19:00, Vienna, live on ORF SPORT +

Tickets for the two remaining home matches are available HERE.

Already played

Latvia vs. Austria 3:2 after penalties (0:1,1:0,1:1,0:0,1:0)
Thu, 4 April 2024, 18:00 (CEST), Riga (LAT)
Austria goalscorers: Leon Wallner (16'), Julian Metzler (43')
Latvia goalscorers: Feliks Egils Gavars (26'), Dans Locmelis (46')

Latvia vs. Austria 3:2 after a penalty shootout (1:0,1:2,0:0,0:0,1:0)
Fri, 5 April 2024, 18:00 (CEST), Riga (LAT)
Austria scorers: Nico Feldner (31'), Ian Scherzer (36')
Latvia scorers: Martins Lavins (11'), Haralds Egle (34')

Slovenia vs. Austria 5:2 (3:0,1:1,1:1)
Thu, 11 April 2024, 19:00, Ljubljana (SLO)
Slovenia scorers: Ken Ograjenšek (2'), Nik Simšič (8'), Anže Kuralt (12'), Jan Drozg (34'), Žan Jezovšek (58')
Austria scorers: Nico Brunner (39'/PP1), Senna Peeters (47')

Austria vs. Slovenia 0:6 (0:0,0:4,0:2)
Fri, 12 April 2024, 18:00, Villach
Slovenia scorers: Matic Podlipnik (21'/PP1), Anže Kuralt (32'/PP1, 34'/PP1, 37'), Jan Drozg (44'), Ken Ograjenšek (52')

Czechia vs. Austria 5:1 (2:0,1:1,2:0)
Thu, 18 April 2024, 17:10, Budweis (CZE)
Czechia scorers: Adam Kubík (3'/PP1), Andrej Šustr (18'), Jakub Galvas (25'), Jiří Černoch (51'), Michael Špaček (53')
Austria scorer: Benjamin Baumgartner (29')

Austria vs. Czechia 2:3 (1:1,0:2,1:0)
Sat, 20 April 2024, 18:00, Linz
Austria scorers: Nico Feldner (14), Leon Wallner (58)
Czechia scorers: Daniel Gazda (18), Jakub Rychlovský (25/PP1, 30)

2024 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

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

Schedule

Austria vs. Denmark
Sat., 11 May 2024, 16:20, live on ORF 1

Austria vs. Switzerland
Sun., 12 May 2024, 20:20, live on ORF SPORT +

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 +