Austria’s World Championship squad confirmed
It was one of the key and difficult decisions: do you go into the World Championship with eight defencemen and 14 forwards, or with nine defencemen and 13 forwards? And, of course, who are the 22 players travelling to Zurich on Wednesday? Following internal discussions among the coaching staff, a decision was made after Saturday evening’s 4:1 win over Slovenia.
4 min read
In short: Head Coach Roger Bader will approach the World Championship with nine defencemen and 13 forwards. The goaltending trio of David Kickert, Atte Tolvanen and Florian Vorauer was confirmed early on. The nine defencemen are: Gregor Biber, Dominic Hackl, David Maier, Thimo Nickl, Ramon Schnetzer, Paul Stapelfeldt, Clemens Unterweger, Philipp Wimmer and Bernd Wolf.
The 13 forwards are: Tim Harnisch, Mario Huber, Paul Huber, Leon Kolarik, Henrik Neubauer, Benjamin Nissner, Maximilian Rebernig, Ian Scherzer, Peter Schneider, Simeon Schwinger, Lucas Thaler, Leon Wallner and Dominic Zwerger.
Peter Schneider will captain the national team at a World Championship for the first time. In total, the 25-man squad brings 1.414 international appearances of experience onto the ice. All the goaltenders and defencemen are already familiar with the World Championship procedures, having taken part in one or more World Championships.
Among the forwards, Tim Harnisch, Leon Kolarik, Maximilian Rebernig, Ian Scherzer and Leon Wallner are five debutants.
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, Laval Rocket, the Montreal Canadiens’ farm team for whom Vinzenz Rohrer and David Reinbacher play, were eliminated from the AHL play-offs by the Toronto Marlies. It remains to be seen whether both, or at least one of them, will join the national team in the coming days. Discussions with the players and the club will begin immediately.
Head Coach Roger Bader: “As every year, selecting the World Championship squad is a difficult decision. And I am pleased about that, because every player made the decision difficult for me and put forward their credentials during World Championship preparation. We are convinced that we will achieve our World Championship objectives with this team. Remaining in the top division remains the top priority, and two wins are required for that. Following Laval Rocket’s elimination from the AHL play-offs, we will contact Vinzenz Rohrer and David Reinbacher immediately and see what happens.”
World Championship squad 2026
25 players | Statistics | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Surname | First name | Pos | Height | Weight | Date of birth | R/L | Club | GP | G | A | PIM | ||
30 | KICKERT | David | GK | 188,0 | 83,0 | 16.03.1994 | L | EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) | 126 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
35 | TOLVANEN | Atte | GK | 182,0 | 87,0 | 23.11.1994 | L | EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
33 | VORAUER | Florian | GK | 188,0 | 81,0 | 09.12.1999 | L | EC KAC (AUT) | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
45 | BIBER | Gregor | D | 190,0 | 89,0 | 09.08.2006 | L | Rögle BK (SWE) | 23 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
5 | HACKL | Dominic | D | 187,0 | 91,0 | 08.11.1996 | L | EV Vienna Capitals (AUT) | 49 | 0 | 3 | 14 | |
12 | MAIER | David | D | 187,0 | 86,0 | 12.01.2000 | R | EC KAC (AUT) | 86 | 2 | 11 | 63 | |
78 | NICKL | Thimo | D | 191,0 | 87,0 | 04.12.2001 | R | EC KAC (AUT) | 56 | 2 | 5 | 31 | |
4 | SCHNETZER | Ramon | D | 178,0 | 83,0 | 12.08.1996 | L | Pioneers Vorarlberg Eishockeyclub (AUT) | 75 | 3 | 7 | 28 | |
18 | STAPELFELDT | Paul | D | 197,0 | 100,0 | 20.09.1998 | L | Moser Medical Graz99ers (AUT) | 44 | 0 | 0 | 14 | |
92 | UNTERWEGER | Clemens | D | 183,0 | 91,0 | 01.04.1992 | L | EC KAC (AUT) | 96 | 6 | 26 | 34 | |
67 | WIMMER | Philipp | D | 195,0 | 96,0 | 13.12.2001 | L | EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) | 45 | 0 | 1 | 35 | |
32 | WOLF | Bernd | D | 178,0 | 84,0 | 23.02.1997 | L | EHC Kloten (SUI) | 124 | 6 | 20 | 66 | |
40 | HARNISCH | Tim | F | 179,0 | 81,0 | 18.04.2001 | L | Moser Medical Graz99ers (AUT) | 25 | 4 | 3 | 31 | |
96 | HUBER | Mario | F | 188,0 | 90,0 | 08.08.1996 | R | EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) | 72 | 12 | 15 | 20 | |
52 | HUBER | Paul | F | 193,0 | 101,0 | 10.06.2000 | L | Moser Medical Graz99ers (AUT) | 79 | 9 | 4 | 16 | |
81 | KOLARIK | Leon | F | 180,0 | 80,0 | 23.09.2007 | L | Peterborough Petes (CAN) | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
14 | NEUBAUER | Henrik | F | 184,0 | 90,0 | 15.04.1997 | R | Steinbach Black Wings Linz (AUT) | 34 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
70 | NISSNER | Benjamin | F | 182,0 | 80,0 | 30.11.1997 | L | EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) | 60 | 13 | 16 | 24 | |
8 | REBERNIG | Maximilian | F | 193,0 | 103,0 | 03.09.2000 | L | Eishockeyclub EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV (AUT) | 23 | 1 | 2 | 15 | |
17 | SCHERZER | Ian | F | 181,0 | 89,0 | 03.07.2005 | L | RPI Engineers (USA) | 15 | 1 | 4 | 2 | |
3 | SCHNEIDER | Peter | F | 183,0 | 91,0 | 04.04.1991 | R | EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) | 96 | 28 | 37 | 44 | |
61 | SCHWINGER | Simeon | F | 182,0 | 75,0 | 07.10.1997 | L | EC KAC (AUT) | 45 | 2 | 1 | 20 | |
48 | THALER | Lucas | F | 180,0 | 80,0 | 21.01.2002 | R | EC Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) | 57 | 10 | 12 | 45 | |
9 | WALLNER | Leon | F | 185,0 | 89,0 | 01.07.2002 | R | EV Vienna Capitals (AUT) | 31 | 4 | 7 | 2 | |
16 | ZWERGER | Dominic | F | 183,0 | 93,0 | 16.07.1996 | L | HC Ambrì-Piotta (SUI) | 106 | 26 | 40 | 51 | |
Ø | 185,5 | 88,0 | 26,7 | 1414 | 132 | 222 | 565 | ||||||
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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 Austria games - (Ticketcorner.ch)
Link to World Championship packages including Austria games - (Ticketcorner.ch)
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