Contract exten­sion: Roger Bader stays!

“From my perspective, that will be the case once we have secured our place in the top division three years in a row,” explains Roger Bader. At this year's World Championship, which the team had been promoted to due to the exclusions of Russia and Belarus, it made history with its first-ever win over the Czech Republic, delivered nothing but top performances and finished the tournament in 11th place.

The development of the national team and, not least, its performance at the 2022 World Championship left no doubt within the ÖEHV that it would continue to rely on the Swiss coach in the future. Klaus Hartmann, ÖEHV President: “I am very pleased that we were able to reach an agreement with Roger Bader to extend our successful collaboration for a further two years. The excellent performance of our men's senior national team at the World Championship in Finland, together with the convincing displays against top teams during the lengthy preparation phase, impressively demonstrated that we are developing in the desired direction in order to achieve our sporting objectives in the future as well. We have also taken the appropriate steps in close, constructive coordination in the area of youth teams.”

Roger Bader is regarded internationally as an absolute top expert with many years of experience. The Swiss coach also has an excellent network across Europe and as far as North America. This enabled the national team to enjoy high-calibre World Championship preparation matches against medal contenders the Czech Republic, Sweden and eventual world champions Finland.

Roger Bader: “I am proud to be Head Coach of Austria's men's ice hockey national team. My goal is for us to establish ourselves among the top 12 nations. From my perspective, that will be the case once we have secured our place in the top division three years in a row. Therefore, our primary objective again next year is to remain in the A-pool.”

In addition to his role as Head Coach of the senior national team, Bader will also continue to serve as Sporting Director of all men's national teams. This also includes overall responsibility for coach education.