Successful restart for Para ice hockey

Austria has once again had a Para ice hockey team for almost two years, and the great talent and potential within this squad was demonstrated in the two friendly matches against Finland on Friday and Saturday. On Friday evening, the team surprised the Division B World Championship participants with a 5:4 win after a penalty shootout, before the hosts responded with a 3:0 on Saturday evening.

"We learned a lot this weekend, and that was also the reason why we came here. We knew that when you start a project, there will be setbacks. Yesterday went superbly, while today was one such setback. But we will learn from it and approach the next training camps well," said General Manager Martin Kogler, who is pleased with the restart. These were the first friendly matches for the newly formed Para ice hockey national team, which arrived in Vierumäki (FIN) as clear underdogs.

Finland had only recently been on the ice at the Division B World Championship, so Austria went into these two matches without expectations or pressure. "We did not know what to expect. It was very difficult to work anything out, as we had not played any matches yet," explained Martin Kogler.

In the first match on Friday evening, Austria initially had to adapt to the high tempo. As the game went on, the team settled into the match better and better and even took the lead in the first period. They then became a little careless in the middle period, which the Finns ruthlessly punished with two quick goals. However, the team pulled together properly again during the break and deservedly scored the 2:2 equaliser. A key to success, Martin Kogler said: "We managed to eliminate the mistakes again." Austria eventually prevailed 5:4 after a penalty shootout, celebrating a first win in their first match since the restart.

On Saturday evening, Finland performed as Martin Kogler had actually expected and won clearly 3:0: "We knew they would come back with extreme power. We certainly hit them hard with our win yesterday. Today, they showed what we had actually expected yesterday. We gave our best, but Finland were the stronger team today."

Nevertheless, starting with one win and one defeat against a nation such as Finland is more than satisfactory. The next objectives have already been set, too, Martin Kogler said: "We want to improve minute by minute, game by game. The next step will be to take part in a 4-nation tournament, or even host one ourselves, and we intend to participate in the World Championship. We will soon complete the forms for that and start in the lowest division, the C World Championship. From there, we want to work our way up to where Finland, for example, are."

Finland vs. Austria 4:5 after penalties (0:1, 2:0, 0:1)
Fri, 08 October 2021, 16:00, Vierumäki

Finland vs. Austria 3:0
Sat, 09 October 2021, 20:00, Vierumäki

Matches are played on a standard ice rink with 5 against 5 skaters plus one goalkeeper for each team. The players sit in a specially adapted sled with two runners and a seat, using two short sticks. One end of the sticks has spikes for propulsion, while the other has a blade for playing the puck. The player is securely fastened into the seat with straps and can steer the sled by shifting their weight. The game consists of three periods, each lasting 15 minutes. Otherwise, the rules are largely the same as in ice hockey.

As Para ice hockey is a contact sport, players wear full protective equipment consisting of a helmet with face protection, shoulder pads, elbow pads, gloves, ice hockey trousers and leg protection. The goalkeeper also wears chest protection, a catching glove and a goalkeeper's mask.