Head Coach Roger Bader ahead of World Cham­pi­onship opening double-header: "We want to write our own story"

"Of course, we have good memories of last year, but that no longer counts. We want to write our own story this year," notes Head Coach Roger Bader. 

Following a total of six weeks of preparation (editor's note: the first team camp began in Villach on 2 April), his team begins the 2023 World Championship with a double-header. France await on Saturday, followed by Sweden on Sunday evening – two nations they have faced in the recent past and therefore know well.

"We know France well. We most recently played them at the Beat Covid tournament in spring 2021 and then again in autumn of the same year. Half of the team consists of players competing in various European leagues, while the other half plays in France. They have a good team, are difficult to play against and have big defencemen," Roger Bader analyses.

The Head Coach sees the chances of an opening win as 50:50: "It will be an evenly matched game. We need to play our best ice hockey, then we can beat them."

Austria last won their opening game at a World Championship in 2015, when they beat Switzerland 4:3 in a penalty shoot-out. Captain Thomas Raffl contributed two goals at the time. 

In any case, the team is ready, says Head Coach Roger Bader: "We have now completed three days of training, covered some tactical aspects, held various meetings and watched video footage."

Head-to-head AUT vs. FRA:

66 games, 35 wins, 10 draws, 21 defeats

Head-to-head AUT vs. SWE:

24 games, 1 win, 2 draws, 21 defeats

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, with the local time shown in brackets.

France vs. Austria
Sat, 13 May 2023, 11:20 (12:20 local time)
LIVE on ORF1 (highlights on 18 May at 22:00 on ORF SPORT +)

Sweden vs. Austria
Sun, 14 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20)
LIVE on ORF SPORT +

Denmark vs. Austria
Tue, 16 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)
LIVE on ORF1 (highlights at 23:15 on ORF SPORT +)

USA vs. Austria
Wed, 17 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)
LIVE on ORF1 (highlights at 22:00 on ORF SPORT +)

Austria vs. Germany
Fri, 19 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20)
LIVE on ORF SPORT +

Austria vs. Finland
Sat, 20 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)
LIVE on ORF1 (highlights at 22:15 on ORF SPORT +)

Austria vs. Hungary
Mon, 22 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20)
LIVE on ORF SPORT +

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