Ostrava calling – looking forward to Finland and Czechia

Image information: Next stop for Peter Schneider & Co.: Ostrava - Copyright: GEPA pictures/David Bitzan

Austria’s defeat against Sweden was widely noted in a positive sense and also brought many satisfied faces.Head Coach Roger Bader was visibly proud after the final whistle and full of praise for his team: "I’m super happy with the performance. Of course, I would rather have won 1:0 than lost. I don’t think that would have been entirely undeserved either, because it was very even at times. We had five more shots than the Swedes – just imagine that. Normally, they have 20 to 25 more shots than us. We had our chances, and the first period was outstanding. The penalty before the first goal was harsh; I briefly watched it again. I’m very pleased with how the players can keep up!"

But that is all water under the bridge now, with the focus already on the next tasks. In the Euro Hockey Tour, those are Finland on Saturday and Czechia on Sunday. Finland, hosts of the upcoming World Championship, won World Championship gold in 2019 and silver in 2021, were crowned Olympic champions in February and have occupied 1st place in the world rankings ever since.

A mammoth task, especially as several Olympic gold medallists are already in the line-up. Yet it is not only the medals and the names that make this match-up a special occasion: Austria vs. Finland falls into the “rarity” category. The two nations have faced each other just eleven times to date, always at World Championships or Olympic Games. Finland have won ten of those eleven games, while at the 2000 World Championship in St Petersburg (RUS), the match ended 3:3.  

In three weeks’ time, they will meet for the eighth time at a World Championship. The game comes a year too early, however, as this World Championship meeting was held on Finnish ice in both 2003 and 2013. Both times in Helsinki.

Czechia were already Austria’s opponents twice at the start of the World Championship preparations. Both squads have changed significantly over the past three weeks. For the Euro Hockey Tour, a number of players based in Finland, Sweden, the KHL and Switzerland have joined our neighbours’ squad.

Head Coach Roger Bader: "The team has been able to gain confidence, but now we have the next two top nations ahead of us. Everyone knows that it is extremely difficult to create scoring chances against Finland. They are so compact and so good defensively that it will once again be a challenge to break them down. Like us, Czechia have a completely different team from three weeks ago, with a number of excellent players. We will also pay very close attention to the players’ condition. Definitely not every player will play all three games; instead, we will give players targeted rests."

All of Austria’s Euro Hockey Tour matches will be broadcast live on ORF Sport+. Next week, the national team will gather for the final preparation camp in Schwenningen (GER), where the red-white-red selection will take on neighbouring Germany in the ever-young rivalry in their final World Championship warm-up game on Sunday, 8 May 2022 at 17:00, also live on ORF Sport+.

30 April 2022, 12:00, AUT - FIN in Ostrava, live on ORF Sport+
1 May 2022, 16:00, CZE - AUT in Ostrava, live on ORF Sport+

Camp IV, Schwenningen

8 May 2022, 17:00, GER - AUT in Schwenningen, live on ORF Sport+

Already played:

Camp I, Linz from 2 to 8 April 2022

Austria vs. Czechia 1:4 (1:1,0:1,0:2)
Fri, 08 April 2022, 17:30, LINZ AG Eisarena, 1.850
Austria goalscorer:Erik Kirchschläger (12th minute)

Czechia vs. Austria 5:1 (3:0, 2:0, 0:1)
Wed, 06 April 2022, 17.30, Znojmo
Austria goalscorer: Nico Feldner (48')

Training Camp II, Graz, from 11 to 16 April 2022

Austria vs. Poland 1:0 (0:0,1:0,0:0)
Sat, 16 April 2022, 16:00, Graz Merkur Eisstadion
Austria goalscorer: Philipp Pöschmann (30')

Austria vs. Poland 4:1 (1:0,0:0,3:1)
Thu, 14 April 2022, 19:00, Graz Merkur Eisstadion
Austria goalscorers: David Maier (7'), Simeon Schwinger (49'), Oliver Achermann (PP/57'), Sam Antonitsch (58')
Poland goalscorer: Filip Starzynski (47')

Training Camp III, Innsbruck, from 20 to 25 April 2022

Italy vs. Austria 2:1 (0:1/1:0/1:0)
23 April 2022, 17:30, Bruneck
Austria goalscorer: Ali Wukovits (20')

Austria vs. Italy 5:0 (2:0/1:0/2:0)
24 April 2022, 14:30, Innsbruck
Austria goalscorers: Nico Feldner (2'), Benjamin Nissner (18'), Benjamin Baumgartner (36'), Dominic Zwerger (54'), Thomas Raffl (59')

Euro Hockey Tour Ostrava from 28 April to 1 May

Austria vs. Sweden 0:1 (0:0,0:0,0:1)
Thu, 28 April 2022, 19:00, STEFFL Arena Vienna
Sweden goalscorer: Linus Karlsson (46th/PP1)

Sweden vs. Austria
Sat, 14 May 2022, 11:20, live on ORF Sport+

Austria vs. USA
Sun, 15 May 2022, 15:20, live on ORF Sport+

Czechia vs. Austria
Tue, 17 May 2022, 15:20, live on ORF Sport+

Norway vs. Austria
Wed, 18 May 2022, 15:20, live on ORF Sport+

Latvia vs. Austria
Fri, 20 May 2022, 19:20, live on ORF Sport+

Austria vs. Finland
Sat, 21 May 2022, 15:20, live on ORF Sport+

Austria vs. Great Britain
Mon, 23 May 2022, 19:20, live on ORF Sport+