Deutschland Cup: Austria looking to pick up points against Slovakia

Austria’s men’s national team continues its Deutschland Cup campaign in Düsseldorf with its second game on Saturday (7 November). Roger Bader’s team, led by the sporting director and head coach, will face Slovakia at 15:00 at the PSD BANK DOME. Florian Vorauer gets the nod in goal, with Nicolas Wieser taking his place on the bench as back-up. Bader has also made changes to the lines compared to the Germany game.

Austria lost 0:3 to hosts Germany in Thursday’s opener. After a scoreless first period, Stefan Loibl and Colin Ugbekile scored for the DEB selection in the middle period, before Wojciech Stachowiak sealed the final score in the 48th minute. Two of the three goals conceded came while shorthanded. Austria certainly had chances, but were repeatedly denied by German debutant Jonas Neffin.

Victory in the most recent World Championship meeting

Austria won the most recent World Championship meeting with Slovakia. In May 2025, the team prevailed 3:2 in a shoot-out in Stockholm. David Kickert was in goal at the time.

Slovakia are eighth in the IIHF world ranking, while Austria are twelfth. Vladimir Orszagh is the Slovaks’ head coach. His team lost 2:3 to Latvia in overtime in the opening game of the Deutschland Cup.

Most players in the Slovak squad play in the Czech league. The most experienced player is HC Ocelari Trinec defenceman Patrik Koch, who has made 101 international appearances. Pavol Regenda (HV71) as well as Marian Studenic and Sebastian Cederle (both Färjestad BK) are among those playing in Sweden. Cederle was also on the ice in Stockholm in May 2025.

Austria will face Latvia in the final game of the tournament on Sunday (8 November) at 11:00. ORF ON will show the full game live from 10:55, while ORF SPORT + joins the live coverage from 11:55.

Roger Bader, sporting director and head coach of the ÖEHV men’s national team: "Slovakia are a very good team, like all three opponents at this tournament, and that is a good thing. We want to play against opponents like that. We watched their game against Latvia and are analysing it with Saturday in mind. Some of their players play in Sweden, most in the Czech league. Once again, this is a good international team that will help us progress."

Benjamin Nissner, assistant captain of the ÖEHV men’s national team: "Slovakia play an incredibly fast game and have tremendous quality in their team. We simply have to stick to our game, keep it simple, get shots on goal and finish our checks. Then Austria can beat top nations too."

The squad at a glance:

GOALTENDERS

KICKERT David | 32 years old | EC Red Bull Salzburg
VORAUER Florian | 26 | EC-KAC
WIESER Nicolas | 29 | Moser Medical Graz99ers

DEFENCE

HACKL Dominic | 29 | EV Vienna Capitals
LINDNER Luis | 25 | Steinbach Black Wings Linz
MAIER David | 26 | Moser Medical Graz99ers
NICKL Thimo | 24 | EC-KAC
SÖLLINGER Patrick | 22 | Steinbach Black Wings Linz
STAPELFELDT Paul | 28 | Moser Medical Graz99ers
UNTERWEGER Clemens | 34 | EC-KAC
WIMMER Philipp | 24 | Steinbach Black Wings Linz
WÜRSCHL Niklas | 27 | Steinbach Black Wings Linz

FORWARDS

ACHERMANN Oliver | 32 | HC La Chaux-de-Fonds (SUI)
BAUMGARTNER Benjamin | 26 | SC Bern (SUI)
HARNISCH Tim | 25 | Moser Medical Graz99ers
HAUDUM Lukas | 29 | HC TPS Turku (FIN)
HUBER Paul | 26 | Moser Medical Graz99ers
NEUBAUER Henrik | 29 | Steinbach Black Wings Linz
NISSNER Benjamin | 28 | EC Red Bull Salzburg
REBERNIG Maximilian | 26 | EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV
ROHRER Vinzenz | 22 | EV Zug (SUI)
SCHWINGER Simeon | 29 | EC-KAC
THALER Lucas | 24 | EHC Red Bull München (GER)
WALLNER Leon | 24 | EV Vienna Capitals
WUKOVITS Ali | 30 | EC Red Bull Salzburg