Head Coach Marco Pewal names World Cham­pi­onship squad

Image caption: Marco Pewal has made his selection for the upcoming U20 World Championship. The photo dates from November 2020, showing the then U20 team in a friendly against Hungary - Copyright: GEPA pictures/Walter Luger

Over New Year, the world's eyes will be on Canada, where the ten best U20 teams in the world will battle for the World Championship crown in the homeland of ice hockey. Austria's young hopefuls will be right in the thick of it, facing hosts Canada, Finland, the Czech Republic and Germany in Edmonton.

It is the second most important event in men's ice hockey after the senior World Championship: the IIHF World Junior Championships, also known as the U20 World Championship! Canada also hosted the junior World Championship last year, although it was held without spectators due to the pandemic. This is precisely why the North Americans swapped their hosting rights with Sweden, where the tournament was originally due to take place. The land of the eleven-time world champions will instead host the tournament in 2024.

According to the current plans, spectators will be admitted to the two arenas in Edmonton and Red Deer, allowing our players to demonstrate their talent in front of an incredible crowd of 18.000 fans.

Having faced eventual U20 world champions the USA, as well as Sweden, Russia and the Czech Republic last year, Austria will take on Finland (27.12 December), hosts Canada (28.12 December), the Czech Republic (30.12 December) and Germany (31.12 December) in Group B this year.

Due to the pandemic, only the Top Division World Championship was held in 2021, meaning there were no relegated or promoted teams. This year, teams will once again battle for both the crown and survival in the division. For this mission, Head Coach Marco Pewal has selected 28 players, who will travel to Red Deer (CAN) on 15 December for direct World Championship preparations.

Alongside players from the domestic ICE Hockey League, the squad also includes nine overseas-based players from Canada, the USA, Switzerland and Sweden.

“The standard at a Top Division U20 World Championship is incredibly high. Some experts even believe it is higher than at a senior World Championship. Our players can measure themselves against the absolute world elite and future top stars,” emphasises ÖEHV Men's Sporting Director Roger Bader the sporting importance of the tournament.

Head Coach Marco Pewal: “When putting together the squad, we made sure to have a team that is strong both technically and in skating. We saw last year how important it is to be able to keep up at this level in terms of skating. We therefore also focused on the players' fitness, holding specific performance tests in Zell am See. Another important aspect was character. We can only cause an upset as a unit and perhaps claim Austria's first-ever victory at a U20 World Championship.”

Start of preparations: the Austrian delegation will travel to Red Deer, Canada, on 15 December for World Championship preparations. Following the second friendly against Sweden on 23 December, the final World Championship squad will be named. 25 players, plus the coaching staff, will then move into the World Championship accommodation in Edmonton on 24 December.

Austria vs Slovakia
Tue, 21 December 2021, 19:30 local time (Wed, 22 December, 03:30 CET)

Austria vs Sweden
Thu, 23 December 2021, 19:30 (Fri, 24 December, 03:30 CET)

Austria vs Finland
Mon, 27 December 2021, 12:00 (20:00 CET)

Austria vs Canada
Tue, 28 December 2021, 17:00 (Wed, 29 December, 01:00 CET)

Czech Republic vs Austria
Thu, 30 December 2021, 14:30 (22:30 CET)

Germany vs. Austria
Fri, 31 December 2021, 12:00 (20:00 CET)

The final series and relegation will follow after New Year.

26 December 2021 – 5 January 2022 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Canada

Group A: USA, Russia, Sweden, Slovakia, Switzerland
Group B: Canada, Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria

Format
The top four teams after the preliminary round qualify for the quarter-finals, which, like the semi-finals and final, are played in a knockout format to determine the world champion. The two fifth-placed nations after the preliminary round contest the relegation in a best-of-three format to determine the team relegated to Division I Group A.

Medal table: Canada (18), Russia (13), Finland (5), USA (5), Sweden (2), Czech Republic (2)