Season ends – Marco Rossi on the World Championship and Olympic qualifying
Marco Rossi played 82 games, completing the entire NHL regular season for Minnesota Wild. The 22-year-old joined the national team for the friendly against Canada and added another eight games to his season, including the final World Championship warm-up. At the 2024 World Championship, Austria's most successful since 2003, Rossi recorded one goal and five assists. At the end of this long season, the Vorarlberg native answered a few more questions.
3 min read
Marco, so soon after the 2:4 defeat against GBR, how would you describe your feelings?
Marco Rossi: “It is difficult to find the right words. I think we can be proud of our boys. I am so proud of every single one of them. We played a very, very good World Championship and showed what we can do. We must not hang our heads now; we have to, and can, remain confident. We represented ourselves very well at this World Championship. I think we can feel good about it.”
Do you go home now with a feeling of ‘we are not finished yet’, and is that what you take into Olympic qualifying at the end of August?
Marco Rossi: “The defeat is a little hard to take, but it does not change what we achieved beforehand. We played really good hockey in the other games. You can talk a lot about what went wrong against Great Britain. Nevertheless, it must not take away our confidence because, as I said, we had a very good World Championship and can leave with our heads held high.”
You played the entire NHL regular season and then added the World Championship. How satisfied are you heading into your well-deserved break?
Marco Rossi: “I am very satisfied. It was a long season in which I played every game in the NHL. That is certainly no excuse, but naturally I can feel it physically and mentally. Of course, you try to tell yourself that everything is fine and that you feel fresh. Nevertheless, I felt good at the World Championship. Ice hockey is a team sport and we did a really good job as a team. I can say it another hundred times: I am so proud of the boys.”
The outstanding team spirit has been highlighted time and again in recent weeks. Has this World Championship brought the team even closer together?
Marco Rossi: “We have a very strong bond within the team. We have always got on well over the past few years. Year after year, we feel more comfortable together and that shows. We learn more every year and I hope it continues in the right direction.”
Olympic qualifying is already on the agenda in three months. With Marco Rossi?
Marco Rossi: “Yes, I hope so. But ultimately, Minnesota decides. They know that I want to play, but Minnesota has the final say.”
2024 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
10–26 May 2024
Host: Czechia
Group A – Prague: Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Czechia, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Great Britain
Group B – Ostrava: USA, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, Latvia, France, Kazakhstan, Poland
All results:
Austria vs. Great Britain 2:4 (0:0,1:1,1:3)
Tue, 21 May 2024, 12:20, Prague Arena, 16.306
Austria goalscorers: Clemens Unterweger (23, PP1), Mario Huber (60, PP1)
Great Britain goalscorers: Ben O’Connor (28, PP2). Brett Perlini (42, PP1), Evan Mosey (51), Robert Dowd (56, EN)
Norway vs. Austria 1:4 (0:0,0:3,1:1)
Sun, 19 May 2024, 16:20, Prague Arena, 16.565
Norway goalscorer: Sander Engebråten (54)
Austria goalscorers: Peter Schneider (29, PP1; 34), Dominic Zwerger (29), Mario Huber (58, EN)
Czechia vs. Austria 4:0 (1:0,2:0,1:0)
Fri, 17 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 17.413
Czechia goalscorers: Ondřej Kaše (20, PS), Dominik Kubalík (36, PP1), Jakub Flek (37, PP1), David Tomášek (42)
Finland vs. Austria 2:3 (2:0,0:1,0:2)
Thu, 16 May 2024, 16:20, Prague Arena, 15.387
Finland goalscorers: Saku Mäenalanen (3), Oliver Kapanen (9)
Austria goalscorers: Mario Huber (24), Thimo Nickl (50), Benjamin Baumgartner (60)
Canada vs. Austria 7:6 AET (3:1,3:0,0:5,1:0)
Tue, 14 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 14.704
Canada goalscorers: Dylan Cozens (7), Kaiden Guhle (10), Bowen Byram (14), Jared McCann (23), Connor Bedard (30), Pierre-Luc Dubois (38), John Tavares (61)
Austria goalscorers: Benjamin Nissner (11), Benjamin Baumgartner (44), Peter Schneider (45, 56), Dominic Zwerger (51), Marco Rossi (60)
Austria vs. Switzerland 5:6 (2:1,2:3,1:2)
Sun, 12 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 13.512
Austria goalscorers: Clemens Unterweger (5), Paul Huber (15), Lukas Haudum (22/PP1, 35/PP1), Benjamin Baumgartner (53)
Switzerland goalscorers: Roman Josi (16/PP2, 30/PP2), Nico Hischier (23, 41/PP1, 60/PP1), Ken Jäger (30/PP1)
Austria vs. Denmark 1:5 (1:2,0:1,0:2)
Sat, 11 May 2024, 16:20, Prague Arena, 15.719
Austria goalscorer: Manuel Ganahl (20)
Denmark goalscorers: Markus Lauridsen (14), Frederik Storm (17/SH1), Joachim Blichfeld (39, 59/PP1), Felix Scheel (54)
All the information and the full schedule are available on the official IIHF website
