"Bubble" in St. Pölten

After Roger Bader took over as head coach of the Austrian U20 national team from Marco Pewal last Friday, the call-up for the extended squad for the IIHF U20 World Championship took place on Monday. A total of 30 skaters and six goaltenders will move into the strict "bubble" (hotel – training – hotel) in St. Pölten on 6 December.

"All teams are facing a challenging situation. The Covid-19 situation requires us to plan the necessary safety measures down to the smallest detail," says coach Bader. "We will do everything possible to complete this training week as scheduled, with two on-ice sessions a day and without any positive test results. The first decision on who will be part of the final World Championship squad will then be made on 12 December."

Three negative PCR tests are required during this one-week training camp in order to take the charter flight to Canada on 13 December. During the 14-day window before the planned departure, not a single member of the entire Austrian delegation may test positive for coronavirus. Following a brief quarantine in their hotel rooms, the first training sessions are scheduled to take place at the World Championship venue in Edmonton from 18 December, followed by two exhibition games against Germany and Slovakia.

Austria will open the World Championship tournament against the USA on 26 December, before also facing Sweden, Russia and the Czech Republic in the preliminary round. The final round follows, with no relegation games taking place due to the cancellation of all other U20 World Championship tournaments. All World Championship participants (teams, officials, TV etc.) must log their movements in an app every day, will be tested daily on site and will live in a "bubble" in Edmonton's Ice District around Rogers Place for almost four weeks.

U20 NATIONAL TEAM FIXTURES 2020/21

02–06.11.2020: U20 Cup
Venue: St. Pölten
Participants: Austria, Hungary

Schedule (both games live on ORF Sport+ and LAOLA1.at)
05.11.2020, 17:00: Austria v Hungary 4:2 (1:0,3:0,0:2)
Goals: Peeters (17, 29/SH), Rossi (21), Wimmer (32) and Lövei (52, 60)
Penalty minutes: 4 and 10 respectively

06.11.2020, 13:00: Austria v Hungary 6:3 (2:1,2:0,2:2)
Goals: Maier (9), Harnisch (16), Unterweger (37), Kasper (39, 59/PP2), Hengelmüller (42) and Lövei (13), Banga (45), Mattyasovszky (50/SH)
Penalty minutes: 33 and 37 respectively

06–12.12.2020: Preparation for the U20 World Championship
Venue: Austria
Meetings, discussions, team-building, on-ice training sessions, PCR tests

13–24.12.2020: Preparation for the U20 World Championship
Location: Edmonton/Canada
13.12.2020: Flight to Canada
18.12.2020: Start of on-ice training

Warm-up matches
21.12.2020, 12:00 (CET: 21.12.2020, 20:00): Germany – Austria
23.12.2020, 12:00 (CET: 23.12.2020, 20:00): Austria – Slovakia

25.12.2020 - 05.01.2021: 2021 IIHF U20 Men's World Championship Top Division
Location: Rogers Place in Edmonton/Canada
Group A: Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany
Group B: Russia, Sweden, USA, Czech Republic, Austria

Schedule
26.12.2020, 19:30 (CET: 27.12.2020, 03:30): USA – Austria
28.12.2020, 16:00 (CET: 29.12.2020, 00:00): Austria – Sweden
29.12.2020, 19:30 (CET: 30.12.2020, 03:30): Austria – Russia
31.12.2020, 12:00 (CET: 31.12.2020, 20:00): Czech Republic – Austria
02.01.2021: Quarter-finals
04.01.2021: Semi-finals
05.01.2021: Finals

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