U16 to travel to Korea for the Youth Olympic Games in January

Innsbruck 2012 hosted the first Winter Youth Olympic Games. The host city, which was the first to welcome the Olympic Games on three different occasions (Winter Olympic Games 1964, 1976 and Youth Olympic Games 2012), was able to give new meaning to its Olympic legacy by hosting the Youth Olympic Games.

1022 athletes aged between 15 and 18 competed in 63 events across seven sports and 15 disciplines.

New 3x3 format

At the Youth Olympic Games 2020 in Lausanne, alongside the usual ice hockey tournament, a 3 versus 3 format (plus a goaltender) was also played on a cross-ice rink for the first time. Austria will compete in exactly this format at the upcoming Winter Youth Olympic Games.

The tournament, featuring eight participating nations, will be played in two rounds: the preliminary round and the play-off round.

In the preliminary round, all teams play each other once. A win in regulation time is worth three points, a draw is worth one point and a win in a penalty shoot-out (note: in the event of a draw, the game goes straight to a penalty shoot-out) earns an additional point.

The top 4 after the preliminary round advance to the semi-finals and compete for the medals, while the final placings of the remaining four teams are determined by the standings after the preliminary round.

Games are played cross-ice, with three periods of 15 minutes each and two five-minute breaks. 45 seconds after the first puck drop, a buzzer sounds to signal a line change. Players on the ice may no longer touch the puck and must immediately head to the players' bench.

When the buzzer sounds, the first two players of the next line may already step onto the ice, while the third player must wait until all players from the previous line are in the 1,5m change zone.

Goaltenders may change at every line change. There are no face-offs between line changes.

U16 Head Coach Florian Mühlstein has drawn up an initial long list for the Olympic tournament. From 11 to 15 December, an initial team camp will be held at the Red Bull Akademie in Salzburg with 24 skaters and four goaltenders, after which the final roster of eleven players and two goaltenders will be announced.

Florian Mühlstein: “Taking part in the Winter Youth Olympic Games is a fantastic opportunity. It is one of the biggest events in winter sports, and the anticipation is already great. In addition to training sessions, we will also hold test matches in this format in December, for which we have secured Poland as opponents.”

All information at: https://olympics.com/en/gangwon-2024/

YOG 2024 long list