High-tempo and intense – Austria ready for Denmark and Germany

“We did many things well, playing at a high tempo and with great intensity,” praised Head Coach Roger Bader his team’s performance in the Deutschland Cup opener against Slovakia. The only area to improve is chance conversion: “Despite the good Slovak goaltending performance, we cannot be satisfied with that.”

The target is to improve every day. Today’s day without a game will be used for training and video analysis in particular. Denmark and Germany await on Saturday and Sunday as the next two major challenges. Both nations have been continuous top-division nations since 2003 (Denmark) and 2007 respectively. Germany also won World Championship silver in 2023. 

Like Austria and Slovakia, these two top 12 nations are represented in Landshut by a mix of players who took part in the last World Championship and challengers. “Denmark’s first two lines are very good. It will be an intense, high-tempo game. Hopefully, because that makes us better. Playing against Germany in front of a sell-out crowd is always a special motivation,” analyses Roger Bader.

Austria have lost their last three meetings with Denmark – at the 2023 World Championship, the 2023 Deutschland Cup and the 2024 World Championship. They beat Germany 2:1 after a penalty shoot-out in Zell am See in April.

Young talent Gregor Biber under observation

In his second international appearance, 18-year-old Gregor Biber looked composed. Utah drafted the defenceman at the end of June and he has been under constant observation ever since. He only recently received a professional contract with Rögle (SWE), having already played more than 100 minutes in the SHL. Head Coach Roger Bader was also full of praise after the game against Slovakia: “He played as if he had been in the national team for ten years. What he delivered was very impressive. It is a joy to watch.”

From the team camp and the games, Gregor Biber is taking a great deal away for his development, as he says: “This is a really great team. I can still learn a lot here and feel very comfortable. I think that although I am still a young player, I am already important to the team in terms of defensive play and quick transitions. I think those are my strengths and that is how I can help the team.”

DEUTSCHLAND CUP 2024

Austria vs. Slovakia 0:1 (0:1,0:0,0:0)
Thu, 07 November 2024, 12:30, Landshut, Fanatec Arena
Slovakia scorer: Peter Cehlárik (14.)

Austria lined up with:

Goaltenders: 30 Kickert David; 29 Wraneschitz Sebastian (backup) 

Line 1: 5 Biber Gregor - 25 Unterweger Clemens;  9 Wukovits Ali - 21 Haudum Lukas - 15 Thaler Lucas

Line 2: 32 Wolf Bernd - 8 Nickl Thimo; 27 Huber Paul - 18 Baumgartner Benjamin - 22 Rohrer Vinzenz

Line 3: 20 Schnetzer Ramon - 17 Wimmer Philipp; 28 Richter Marco - 13 Obrist Patrick - 7 Feldner Nico

Line 4: 26 Stapelfeldt Paul - 14 Würschl Niklas; 16 Schwinger Simeon - 2 Obersteiner Daniel - 11 Neubauer Henrik

Further matches:

Austria vs. Denmark
Sat, 09 November 2024, 11:00, Landshut, Fanatec Arena >> live on ORF SPORT + and ORF ON

Germany vs. Austria
Sun, 10 November 2024, 15:00, Landshut, Fanatec Arena >> live on ORF SPORT + and ORF ON