Over­whelmed by the USA

Austria had waited a long time for this moment: after more than ten years, the Austrian U20 national team was once again competing at an IIHF U20 World Championship Top Division. At Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada, they suffered a 0:11 defeat to the USA in the night from Saturday to Sunday.

In the first period, the Austrians withstood the great pressure from the Americans, largely thanks to goaltender Sebastian Wraneschitz. Given the clear disparity in shots, Head Coach Roger Bader’s team was still well served by being only 0:1 behind after the first period. “We worked well defensively in the first period and made fewer mistakes. From the second period onwards, though, the physical pressure simply became too great and we could no longer offer any resistance,” said defenceman Luis Lindner.

From the 25th minute to the 50th minute, the USA scored a further ten goals at almost one-minute intervals. One of the favourites for medals demonstrated its playing strength in every respect. “We already knew beforehand that the USA were in a different class. The team consists of 23 NHL draft picks,” said Head Coach Bader. “We were well organised defensively at the start, but the pressure became too great as the game went on. The USA simply overwhelmed us with their concentrated power. It was certainly exciting for the players to experience how well ice hockey can be played at this age. Sweden and Russia will be similarly dominant. We want to improve day by day against nations like these. We cannot perform miracles; the difference in quality is simply enormous.”

The second World Championship game against Sweden in the night from Monday to Tuesday will be shown live on ORF Sport+ (CET: 29 December, 00:00). In their third World Championship game, the U20 team will face fellow favourites Russia (CET: 30.12.2020, 03:30). The preliminary round concludes against the Czech Republic on New Year’s Eve (CET: 31 December, 20:00), also live on ORF Sport+.

U20 NATIONAL TEAM FIXTURES 2020/21

02–06.11.2020: U20 Cup
Venue: St. Pölten
Participants: Austria, Hungary

Schedule (both games live on ORF Sport+ and LAOLA1.at)
05.11.2020, 17:00: Austria – Hungary 4:2 (1:0,3:0,0:2)
Goals: Peeters (17., 29./SH), Rossi (21.), Wimmer (32.) and Lövei (52., 60.) respectively
Penalty minutes: 4 and 10, respectively

06.11.2020, 13:00: Austria – Hungary 6:3 (2:1,2:0,2:2)
Goals: Maier (9), Harnisch (16), Unterweger (37), Kasper (39, 59/PP2), Hengelmüller (42) and Lövei (13), Banga (45), Mattyasovszky (50/SH)
Penalty minutes: 33 and 37, respectively

06–12.12.2020: Preparation for the U20 World Championship
Location: Austria
Meetings, discussions, team-building, on-ice training, PCR tests
10.12.2020, 17:00: 90-minute on-ice training session (LIVE on ORF Sport+)

13–24.12.2020: Preparation for the U20 World Championship
Location: Edmonton, Canada
13.12.2020: Flight to Canada
18.12.2020: Start of on-ice training

Warm-up match
22.12.2020, 16:00 (CET: 23.12.2020, 00:00): Switzerland – Austria 3:2 (1:0,1:1,1:1)
Goals: Jobin (13), Baragano (38/PP), Matchand (54) and Böhm (36), Wallner (55) respectively
Penalty minutes: 16 and 8, plus a 10-minute disciplinary penalty for Rossi
HIGHLIGHTS

25.12.2020–05.01.2021: 2021 IIHF U20 Men's World Championship, Top Division
Location: Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada
Group A: Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany
Group B: Russia, Sweden, USA, Czech Republic, Austria

Schedule
26.12.2020, 19:30: USA – Austria 11:0 (1:0,6:0,4:0)
Goals: Helleson (16), Zegras (25, 32), Farinacci (26), Brisson (29/PP, 44), Boldy (35, 39/PP, 46), Berard (43), Colangelo (50)
Penalty minutes: 4 and 4, plus a game misconduct (Wimmer)

28.12.2020, 16:00 (CET: 29.12.2020, 00:00): Austria – Sweden (LIVE on ORF Sport+)
29.12.2020, 19:30 (CET: 30.12.2020, 03:30): Austria – Russia
31.12.2020, 12:00 (CET: 31.12.2020, 20:00): Czech Republic – Austria (LIVE on ORF Sport+)
02.01.2021: Quarter-finals
04.01.2021: Semi-finals
05.01.2021: Final games

As all other U20 World Championship tournaments for the 2020/21 season have been cancelled, there will be neither promotion nor relegation this year. Consequently, there will also be no relegation games involving the fifth-placed teams in the groups in Edmonton. All participants will also play in the IIHF Top Division of the U20 in Canada in the 2021/22 season.