Call-up for Camp #4: Rein­bacher, Acher­mann, Nickl and the first Salzburg cham­pions

With a 3:2 penalty-shootout win over Germany under their belts, the charges of Head Coach Roger Bader headed straight home after Saturday evening's game. Overnight, the Swiss coach had to make the next difficult selection decisions following the two strong performances against their neighbours: "That is part of the game, and I always hope that the players make it as difficult as possible for me."

David Reinbacher and Thimo Nickl, both of whom have recovered from various injuries in recent weeks, now join the squad for the double-header against Czechia. Swiss-based Oliver Achermann is also new to the team, while the first names from win2day ICE Hockey League champions EC Red Bull Salzburg can be found in the 30-man squad. "Not that many players from champions Salzburg are joining us yet. Those who played a lot of ice time in the final series will come in week five," explains Roger Bader.

Improvement from week to week

The third team camp concluded satisfactorily with one win and one defeat against Germany. Next Thursday and Saturday, Austria will face 2022 World Championship bronze medallists Czechia in warm-up games.

Head Coach Roger Bader expects another step up in quality and suspects that the opposition may already feature their first NHL players: "The level is raised every week until, step by step, we reach the World Championship level we need to have. That was the case this week with Germany, who were a better and more intense opponent than Italy or Slovenia before them. That was desired and intentional. Czechia now represent another significant step up. They may already have NHL players with them. Hopefully they do, because we want to have the best possible opponent in Vienna. We want to be forced to take the next step and improve."

Tickets for the home game at Vienna's Steffl Arena on 27 April at 18:30 are available via the ÖEHV ticket shop. The return game takes place in Brno on 29 April at 16:00. Both games will be broadcast live on ORF Sport+.

Squad for World Championship preparation week #4

SENIOR MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PREPARATION SCHEDULE:

Team camp 1

2 - 6 April 2023, Villach

Team camp 2
9–14 April 2023, Innsbruck

Team Camp 3
17–22 April 2023, Deggendorf (GER)

Team Camp 4
25–29 April 2023, Vienna

Team Camp 5
2–6 May 2023, Kapfenberg

FRIENDLY MATCHES

(subject to change)

Austria vs. Slovenia 3:5 (1:2, 2:1, 0:2)
Thu, 6 April 2023, 17:30, Villach
Austria goalscorers: Emilio Romig (20th/PP1), Nico Feldner (25th/PP1, 28th)
Slovenia goalscorers: Blaž Tomaževič (7th), Jan Drozg (15th), Ken Ograjenšek (31st), Robert Sabolič (52nd/PP1), Žiga Pance (59th/SH1/EN)

Italy vs. Austria 2:0 (0:0, 1:0, 1:0)
Wed, 12 April 2023, 20:00, Bruneck (ITA)
Italy goalscorers: Marco Defrancesco (30th), Peter Spornberger (50th/PP1)

Austria vs. Italy 3:2 after a penalty shootout (2:0, 0:1, 0:1, 0:0, 1:0)
Fri, 14 April 2023, 17:30, Innsbruck
Austria goalscorers: Felix Maxa (12th), Simeon Schwinger (18th), Dominic Zwerger (decisive penalty)
Italy goalscorers: Marco José Antonio Magnabosco (27th minute), Alex Petan (58th minute)

Germany vs. Austria 2:0 (2:0,0:0,0:0)
Thu, 20 April 2023, 19:30, Deggendorf (GER)
Germany goalscorers: Dominik Bokk (2nd/PP1), Parker Tuomie (6th minute)

Germany vs. Austria 2:3 after penalties (1:2,0:1,1:0,0:0,0:1)
Sat, 22 April 2023, 17:00, Landshut (GER)
Austria goalscorers: Lukas Haudum (7th/PP1), Henrik Neubauer (29th/PP1), Lukas Haudum (65th/decisive penalty) - Lukas Haudum, Henrik Neubauer and Dominic Zwerger all scored for Austria in the penalty shootout. Goaltender Bernhard Starkbaum saved all of Germany's attempts.

Austria vs. Czechia
Thu, 27 April 2023, 18:30, Vienna
Live on ORF Sport+

Czechia vs. Austria
Sat, 29 April 2023, 16:00, Brno (CZE)
Live on ORF Sport+

Austria vs. Slovakia
Thu, 4 May 2023, 18:30, Kapfenberg
Live on ORF Sport+

Slovakia vs. Austria
Sat, 6 May 2023, 16:00, Trencin (SVK)
Live on ORF Sport+

86TH IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

12 May 2023 – 28 May 2023, Tampere (FIN) and Riga (LAT)

Group A, Tampere: Finland, USA, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, France, Austria, Hungary
Group B, Riga: Canada, Czechia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia, Norway, Kazakhstan, Slovenia

Schedule
Dates and times refer to our local time zone; the local time is given in brackets.

France vs. Austria
Sat, 13 May 2023, 11:20 (12:20)

Sweden vs. Austria
Sun, 14 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20)

Denmark vs. Austria
Tue, 16 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)

USA vs. Austria
Wed, 17 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)

Austria vs. Germany
Fri, 19 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20)

Austria vs. Finland
Sat, 20 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)

Austria vs. Hungary
Mon, 22 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20)

You can find all the information and the full schedule at www.iihf.com