U20 World Cham­pi­onship: Austria lose 0:9 to the Czech Republic in Halifax

In front of 7.105 ice hockey fans at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Austria began their second World Championship game against the Czech Republic with the recovered Vinzenz Rohrer in the line-up. The Czechs had stunned the host nation with their 5:2 opening win over Canada.

The Czechs were on top from the outset and peppered netminder Michael Sicher, who had been given the nod by head coach Kirk Furey this time, with shots. Jakub Brabenec gave the Czechs an early lead on their first power play following an individual effort. Head coach Radim Rulík’s team then controlled proceedings and extended their lead to 3:0 in the first period.

The Czech Republic continued to play to their strengths in the second period and quickly increased their lead to 4:0. At the apparent 5:0, head coach Kirk Furey called a video challenge and the goal was indeed disallowed by the officiating team. A few seconds later, Ales Cech beat netminder Michael Sicher to make it 5:0. By the midway point of the game, the clinical northern neighbours were already 7:0 ahead.

Jiri Kulich made it 8:0 directly from the face-off eight seconds into the final period, marking the Czech centre’s third goal.

Canada and Germany await

In the end, the Czech Republic won 9:0. When Tobias Sablattnig blocked a shot while shorthanded late in the game and continued defending despite being in considerable pain, chants of "Let’s go, Austria!" echoed around the arena. Defenceman David Reinbacher, who logged a total of 18:30 minutes of ice time, was named Austria’s best player. 

Following a rest day, Austria’s World Championship campaign continues against hosts Canada at 00:30 on the night from Thursday to Friday, before concluding the preliminary round against Germany at 22:30 on Friday. There are only 22 hours of recovery time between the start times of these two games.

Kirk Furey, Austria head coach: "We performed better as a team today, but unfortunately the result was similarly heavy. We took steps in the right direction because we stuck together better as a team. It was another tough game, the Czech Republic are a fast team, but we did not give up. We have to look ahead. It is no secret that Friday against Canada will be difficult, but the game will be a good experience for the boys. We will do our best to make adjustments. We have to be fully switched on mentally against Canada. We showed at times today that we were mentally there, but of course we conceded too many goals. However, the boys should be proud of the effort they showed. Now it is time to prepare well for the Canada game!"

2023 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

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

AUSTRIA vs. Czech Republic 0:9 (0:3,0:4,0:2)
28 December 2022, 00:30, Halifax

TICKET PRICES & SCHEDULE

The U20 World Championship on LIVE.eishockey.at

• Single-game ticket: EUR 8,90.-
• U20 World Championship Pass 1 (all games of the Austrian U20 national team – at least five games): EUR 39.-
• U20 World Championship Pass 2 (all Austria preliminary-round games + all relegation and final games (14-15 games, with two relegation games – there may also be three due to the "Best-of-Three" format): EUR 49.-

U20 men’s ice hockey national team fixtures and results:

AUSTRIA vs. Canada (Commentary by Michael Berger)
30 December 2022, 00:30, Halifax

Germany vs. ÖSTERREICH (Commentary by Michael Berger)
30 December 2022, 22:30, Halifax

Already played:

Sweden vs. ÖSTERREICH 11:0 (2:0,6:0,3:0)
Mon, 26 December 2022, 19:30 (Mon, 26 December 2022, 14:30)

Group A and Group B standings

Play-off/Relegation Round

Quarter-final 1
02 January 2023, 17:00

Quarter-final 2
02 January 2023, 19:30

Quarter-final 3
02 January 2023, 22:00

Quarter-final 4
03 January 2023, 00:30

Semi-final 1
04 January 2023 20:30

Semi-final 2
05 January 2023 00:30

Bronze medal game for 3rd place
05 January 2023 20:30

Final (Commentary by Michael Berger)
06 January 2023 00:30

Relegation games (should Austria compete in the relegation round)

Relegation round, 1st game
02 January 2023, 15:30

Relegation round, 2nd game
04 January 2023, 17:00