Bader as Head Coach

Following an internal meeting between EC VSV and Marco Pewal, the Austrian Ice Hockey Federation Executive Board was informed on Wednesday that Pewal, the previous Head Coach of the Austrian U20 national team, would not be released for the IIHF U20 World Championship in Canada, including the preparation period (6 December to 6 January). The reason given was that Pewal would be unavailable to the Villach side for up to 15 games, which VSV cannot afford in the current situation.

The ÖEHV Executive Board has therefore decided to appoint Roger Bader, Head Coach of the senior men's national team, as Head Coach of the U20 national team in place of Pewal. His planned role as team manager at the U20 World Championship in Canada will now be taken over by Tamara Steiner.

"It is a great shame that Marco Pewal cannot be Head Coach of the U20 national team. We understand VSV's concerns, as they are also in a difficult situation due to the Covid-19 situation," explains President Dr Klaus Hartmann. "Having the Head Coach of the senior national team step in as a replacement is the logical and best solution. We are pleased that Roger Bader has made himself available for this task."

Bader, too, can understand EC VSV's decision, adding: "As Sporting Director of the men's national teams, I find it regrettable that Marco, who sensationally secured promotion with his team last year, cannot be in Canada. I selected him for this coaching position two years ago and would have liked to see him fulfil this role in Edmonton as well. As Head Coach of this U20 team, I am looking forward to the challenge and, together with my coaching team, I will try to represent Austrian ice hockey as well as possible at the U20 World Championship."

The U20 team will meet in St. Pölten as early as 6 December and form a strict "bubble" (hotel – training – hotel). Three negative PCR tests within one week are required in order to board the charter flight to Edmonton on 13 December.

2021 IIHF U20 World Championship Top Division

25 December 2020 - 5 January 2021
Venue
Edmonton/Canada

Participants
Group A: Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany
Group B: Russia, Sweden, USA, Czech Republic, Austria

Schedule (Edmonton local time, CET +8 hours)
25.12.2020, 12:00: Switzerland - Slovakia
25.12.2020, 16:00: Germany - Finland
25.12.2020, 19:30: Russia - USA

26.12.2020, 12:00: Sweden - Czech Republic
26.12.2020, 16:00: Germany - Canada
26.12.2020, 19:30: USA - Austria

27.12.2020, 12:00: Finland - Switzerland
27.12.2020, 16:00: Slovakia - Canada
27.12.2020, 19:30: Czech Republic - Russia

28.12.2020, 16:00: Austria - Sweden
28.12.2020, 19:30: Slovakia - Germany

29.12.2020, 12:00: USA - Czech Republic
29.12.2020, 16:00: Canada - Switzerland
29.12.2020, 19:30: Austria - Russia

30.12.2020, 12:00: Finland - Slovakia
30.12.2020, 16:00: Switzerland - Germany
30.12.2020, 19:30: Russia - Sweden

31.12.2020, 12:00: Czech Republic - Austria
31.12.2020, 16:00: Canada - Finland
31.12.2020, 19:30: Sweden - USA

02.01.2021: Quarter-finals
04.01.2021: Semi-finals
05.01.2021: Final games

Format
As all other U20 World Championship tournaments for the 2020/21 season have been cancelled, there will be neither promotion nor relegation this year. Therefore, there will also be no relegation games involving the fifth-placed teams in the groups in Edmonton. All participants will also play in the IIHF Top Division of the U20 in Canada in the 2021/22 season.

More information at...