Two wins against Hungary

The current Covid-19 situation in Europe put the first training camp of the U20 national team this season under considerable pressure. In addition to the withdrawals of the original participants Denmark, Belarus and Latvia, training sessions at the Sport.Zentrum Niederösterreich were briefly halted due to positive cases in the U20 team.

"The federation did a good job and the prevention concept worked well," said Head Coach Marco Pewal after the two games against Hungary, who stepped in as a replacement at short notice. Following Thursday's 4:2 win, Austria defeated their Hungarian peers 6:3 on Friday, gaining confidence for the tasks ahead. Oskar Maier, Tim Harnisch, Dominik Unterweger, Maximilian Hengelmüller and Marco Kasper, who scored twice and at 16 years old was the youngest player in the squad, all got on the scoresheet in the second victory.

"In a few weeks, we will enter a 'bubble' for our World Championship preparations. It will be a completely new experience for everyone. I hope all players stay healthy and that we can take part in the World Championship in Canada with our strongest team," said coach Pewal.

For Sporting Director Roger Bader, these games against Hungary – the only ones played by an Austrian national team during this week's IIHF Break – were of great importance: "Hungary competed well at times, but our players always found the right solutions and deservedly won twice. The coaches were able to try out a number of combinations and certainly gained valuable insights for the World Championship."

The IIHF World Championship in Canada, in which the Austrian U20 selection will take part for the fourth time overall, is fast approaching. The team will meet again in St. Pölten on December 6 and form a strict "bubble" (hotel – training – hotel). Three negative PCR tests within one week will be required to board the charter flight to Edmonton on December 13.

In the Canadian province of Alberta, the first training sessions are scheduled from December 18 following a short quarantine period, followed by two warm-up games against Germany and Slovakia. Austria will begin the World Championship tournament against the USA on December 26, before also facing Sweden, Russia and the Czech Republic during the remainder of the preliminary round. This will be followed by the final round; there will be no relegation games due to the cancellation of all other U20 World Championship tournaments.

Due to the exceptional health situation, a number of measures are required to ensure the World Championship can be held safely. Firstly, there will be only one venue, Rogers Place in Edmonton; secondly, no spectators will be admitted; and thirdly, all participants (teams, officials, TV personnel, etc.), who must record their movements daily in an app and will be tested every day at the World Championship venue, will remain in a "bubble" in the Ice District around the arena.

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 min, 29 min/SH), Rossi (21 min), Wimmer (32 min); Lövei (52 min, 60 min)
Penalty minutes: 4 and 10, respectively

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

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 matches
21.12.2020, 12:00 (CET: 21.12.2020, 20:00): Germany – Austria
23.12.2020, 12:00 (CET: 23.12.2020, 20:00): Austria – Slovakia

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 (CET: 27.12.2020, 03:30): USA – Austria
28.12.2020, 16:00 (CET: 29.12.2020, 00:00): Austria – Sweden
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
02.01.2021: Quarter-finals
04.01.2021: Semi-finals
05.01.2021: Finals

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, no relegation games between the fifth-placed teams in the groups will be played in Edmonton. All participants will also compete in the IIHF Top Division of the U20 in Canada in the 2021/22 season.