LOTTERIEN Sporthilfe Gala: Men’s National Team named Team of the Year for the first time in history!

Following the hugely successful 2025 World Championship in Stockholm and Herning, Austria’s men’s national ice hockey team has received a great honour: the ÖEHV team, coached by Head Coach Roger Bader, was awarded the NIKI in the “Team of the Year” category at the Sports Personality of the Year awards. The vote was conducted by the members of Sports Media Austria, the association of Austrian sports journalists.

09 October 20251 min read

“Naturally, this fills us with an incredible amount of pride. The entire team has put an enormous amount of hard work into this over the past few years. I am delighted to be able to accept this wonderful award here on behalf of the team. We were able to experience incredibly special moments at the World Championship. It is lovely to look back on them once more with an award like this,” said a delighted Dominique Heinrich, who served as Assistant Captain at the 2025 World Championship, where the team sensationally reached the quarter-finals.

Head Coach Roger Bader echoed those sentiments: “Naturally, it makes me incredibly proud. The other contenders also delivered outstanding performances. There would have been absolutely nothing wrong with someone else winning the trophy. But the fact that we achieved it naturally makes me incredibly proud.”

In 2007, Thomas Vanek was named Sports Personality of the Year; until now, the national team had never received this honour. At the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Stockholm (SWE) and Herning (DEN), the ÖEHV selection reached the quarter-finals with some very strong performances and finished an excellent eighth in the final standings, with ten points from four wins – two of them after a penalty shoot-out – their best placing in 31 years.

The “Team of the Year” award adds another chapter to this success story. Austria’s sports journalists placed the team on the throne by casting their votes for the national team.