Double-header against Germany – the mile­stone then follows at the World Cham­pi­onship

“Germany are an established top-division nation and are ranked above us. Challenging them always holds a special appeal,” said Head Coach Roger Bader ahead of last year’s World Championship warm-up game against Germany. Nothing has changed in that respect, nor will it. The last victory over our neighbours was almost exactly four years ago: Austria celebrated a 3:2 win in Regensburg on 25 April 2019. 

At the Deutschland Cup last autumn, Austria lost an emotional contest 0:3. The focus of the two upcoming friendlies is on continued development and taking the next steps on the road to the World Championship. In an interview ahead of the World Championship, Roger Bader said: “After Slovenia and Italy, we now face the top nations of Germany, Czechia and Slovakia. It has become clear that they take us seriously as a good opposition for friendlies. You have to earn that first, and we have earned it. I hope we can play against opponents like these more and more often.” 

The national team is currently based and training in Deggendorf, where the first friendly takes place tomorrow, Thursday. They travel to Landshut on Saturday, after which the players and coaching staff return home. The national team convenes in Vienna on Tuesday, where they face Czechia at Vienna’s STEFFL Arena on 27 April in preparation week #4, before facing our neighbours again in Brno two days later. 

Squad for team camp #3

Senior National Team dates and 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 min./PP1), Nico Feldner (25th min./PP1, 28th min.)
Slovenia goalscorers: Blaž Tomaževič (7th min.), Jan Drozg (15th min.), Ken Ograjenšek (31th min.), Robert Sabolič (52th min./PP1), Žiga Pance (59/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 min.), Peter Spornberger (50th min./PP1)

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

Germany vs. Austria
Thu, 20 April 2023, 19:30, Deggendorf (GER)
Live on ORF Sport+

Germany vs. Austria
Sat, 22 April 2023, 17:00, Landshut (GER)
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

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
The dates and times refer to our local time zone; the local time is shown in brackets.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All information and the full schedule can be found at www.iihf.com