ÖEHV youth teams celebrate successes in Slovakia and Hungary

Two strong performances from the Austrian Ice Hockey Federation's youth teams: the U16 men's national team recorded two wins from three games at the four-nation tournament in Piestany (Slovakia), finishing third level on points with Slovakia and Switzerland. The U18 women's national team also impressed in Györ (Hungary): with wins over Hungary and Italy, as well as a narrow defeat against tournament winners Germany (1:2), the ÖEHV selection secured second place.

U16 tournament in Slovakia

The U16 men suffered a heavy 1:7 defeat against Switzerland in their opening game. The team then improved markedly: they claimed a 4:3 win over Slovakia and overturned two deficits against Germany, winning 3:2 with two late goals. Head coach Johannes Leitner drew a positive conclusion: “It was a very positive camp for our U16 national team. We achieved all three objectives – maintaining daily standards, representing Austria with pride and learning international ice hockey.”

Sporting Director Roger Bader watched all three games live at the venue and emphasised the importance of the tournament: “We are facing three nations here that are ahead of us in the youth rankings – these are valuable experiences at a level that is significantly above the domestic league. Winning two games straight away is outstanding. The team displayed very aggressive, high-pressure Team Austria ice hockey with great fighting spirit – it was a real pleasure to watch.”

U18 women celebrate two wins

Austria's U18 women's national team, representing Division 1B, also delivered a strong performance against two Top Division nations. They only lost 1:2 to Germany late on, having been level at 1:1 until five minutes from time and throwing everything into finding an equaliser with six skaters in the closing stages. The ÖEHV team beat Hungary, who had relegated Finland from the Top Division the previous year, 3:1. They also secured a clear 9:3 victory over Italy, who had themselves still played in the Division 1A the previous year.

For head coach Levente Szilagyi, previously a multiple EWHL winner with HK Budapest among other achievements, it was his ÖEHV debut behind the bench – as it was for assistant coach Alena Polenska, the long-serving captain of the Czech senior national team. Szilagyi drew a positive conclusion: “The spirit within the team is incredible, and I am very happy to be able to coach this team. There is an incredible amount of potential in this team.”