U20 national team loses friendly against Slovakia – final World Cham­pi­onship squad confirmed

LIVE.eishockey.at powered by Morawa Digital will exclusively broadcast all games of the Austrian U20 national team from 26 December 2022 to 06 January 2023! >> All information is available here

Austria's U20 national team played their second World Championship warm-up game at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre in Truro, Nova Scotia. Slovakia took a 1:0 lead through Servac Petrovsky at 18. Austria had the perfect response, with Luca Auer scoring the equaliser just 21 seconds later at 18. 

The Slovaks raised the tempo in the second period and the game became more emotional. After Dalibor Dvorsky made it 2:1 at 27, the players exchanged a few pleasantries on the ice. As well as the goalscorer and Simon Becar for Slovakia, Austria's Jonas Dobing, Lukas Hörl and Tobias Sablattnig were sent to the penalty box for roughing.

Just after the halfway mark, goaltender Michael Sicher made way for Benedikt Oschgan. Servác Petrovský made it 3:1 at 33, before Samuel Honzek scored Slovakia's 4:1 on the power play at 35. Libor Nemec completed the scoring at 55 to make it 5:1.

Theirich and Wernicke not in the World Championship squad

After the game against Slovakia, Head Coach Kirk Furey and his coaching staff had to make the difficult decision as to which two players would be cut from the squad. The two forwards Maximilian Theirich and Janick Wernicke will not be part of the 25-man World Championship squad.

The ÖEHV delegation is moving on to Halifax, where, after a day off, they will train once more on 25 December before opening their World Championship campaign against Sweden at the Scotiabank Centre on Monday at 19:30 CET.

Kirk Furey, Austria Head Coach: "Today, we did not have as much energy as we did against Germany; the players were a little tired. It had been eight long and hard days without a day off. The boys gave everything, but did not have enough energy for that extra step. We still created good chances, though, and we are very pleased with the team. Unfortunately, we have to send two players home. It is not easy for anyone, because naturally every player who was at camp wants to be at the World Championship as well. Now we have to look ahead and prepare for the first game against Sweden on Monday. We now have a day off and will enjoy Christmas a little. The team will then train once more on 25 December. The boys' attitude and commitment have been very good, and we are looking forward to the start of the World Championship!"

LIVE.eishockey.at powered by Morawa Digital will exclusively broadcast all games of the Austrian U20 national team from 26 December 2022 to 06 January 2023! And an extra treat for Red-White-Red ice hockey fans: not only will the games of the ÖEHV U20 team from Halifax be streamed live and made available on demand, but the final round, including highlights and LIVE insights, will also be available throughout Austria on the Austrian Ice Hockey Federation's new streaming platform. 

World Championship warm-up results 

Austria vs Slovakia 1:5 (1:1,0:3,0:1)
Sat, 24 December 2022, 00:00 (local time: Friday, 23 December 2022, 19:00), Truro, Rath Eastlink Community Centre
Austria goalscorer: Luca Auer (18)

Already played:

Austria vs Germany 4:3 OT (0:0,2:1,1:2,1:0)
Wed, 21 December 2022, 00:00 (local time: Tuesday, 20 December 2022, 19:00), Charles V. Keating Centre, Antigonish
Austria goalscorers: Luca Auer (32nd), Luca Erne (32nd), Ian Scherzer (42nd/PP1), Finn van Ee (62nd)

2023 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

26 December 2022 – 06 January 2023, Halifax and Moncton (CAN)

Group A, Halifax: Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Germany, Austria
Group B, Moncton: USA, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia

Schedule
Dates and times refer to our local time zone; the local time is given in brackets.

Sweden vs. Austria
Mon, 26 December 2022, 19:30 (Mon, 26 December 2022, 14:30)

Austria vs. Czechia
Wed, 28 December 2022, 00:30 (Tue, 27 December 2022, 19:30)

Austria vs. Canada
Fri, 30 December 2022, 00:30 (Thu, 29 December 2022, 19:30)

Germany vs. Austria
Fri, 30 December 2022, 22:30 (Fri, 30 December 2022, 17:30)

All information and the full schedule can be found at www.iihf.com