hock­ey­data founder Rene Ortner succumbs to serious illness

He was a true pioneer who digitised ice hockey in Austria. In 2004, while still a player and coach of the “Feldbach Ducks” ice hockey team in the national amateur league (NHL) in Graz, he founded the company hockeydata together with his ice hockey colleague Martin Vejvar.

The career path of the computer-savvy chemistry graduate took him via the “World-Tournament” in Zell am See directly to “Red Bull”, where hockeydata initially contributed to the “Red Bulls Salute” tournament on several occasions and, from 2010, as part of “Servus TV Hockey Night”, he was able to bring his technical and editorial ice hockey expertise, combined with his enthusiasm for television, to bear for a full decade.

Rene played a key role in the ÖEHV’s transition to the electronic registration system in the 2014/2015 season. Everything was digitised, from player registrations and transfer management to statistics and tables, as well as the work of the scorekeepers at every game, regardless of level of performance or age group.

In 2017, the signing of a contract with the “Deutschen Eishockey-Bund” marked the next major step towards the digitisation of ice hockey in Central Europe. Rene Ortner played a leading role in all projects alongside his partner and pursued his goal of making ice hockey “more visible, transparent and tangible” until the very end.

Unfortunately, Rene’s health deteriorated steadily and inexorably from 2019 onwards, which led him to gradually withdraw from day-to-day operations. Until the very end, he was a passionate fighter for hockeydata and the sport. 

On 2 March, in his 52nd year, Rene Ortner succumbed to his serious illness.

Our thoughts and sympathy are with his family, relatives and loved ones left behind.