U20 World Cham­pi­onship: block­buster opener against Germany

Following intensive preparation in recent weeks and days in Ferlach and Canada, including two warm-up games against Latvia (4:2) and the Czech Republic (3:6), the team led by Head Coach Philipp Pinter face the major challenge of the best tournament international junior ice hockey has to offer. 

Things are coming thick and fast for the young ÖEHV side: Following the perennial clash with neighbours Germany, the match against follows on Friday, 12 August, at 20:00 (CET/local time 12:00).Sweden on Friday, __OEHV_NUM_F_A__ August, at __OEHV_NUM_F_B__ (CET/local time __OEHV_NUM_F_C__). 24 hours later, on Saturday, 13 August, they face the USA. The red-white-red players will play their final preliminary-round game on Monday, 15 August, at 20:00 (CET/local time 12:00) in the prestige clash against Switzerland.

Key games against Germany and Switzerland

The opening World Championship clash against Germany provides Austria's team with extra motivation. Head Coach Philipp Pinter is well aware of the strengths of their opening opponent:

"Germany have produced a great many good players in recent years; they have enormous depth. The Germans are very physically strong and have many big players in their ranks. They play hockey similar to ours, trying to push forward and play with pressure. Naturally, we want to upset Germany. The first game of the World Championship against Germany should be motivation enough to battle against a direct neighbour and direct rival!" 

Pinter believes his side have a chance against their perennial rivals and in their final group game against Switzerland:

"The key games are the first game against Germany and then the final match against Switzerland. Both teams are normally better than us and further ahead. But against these two teams, if everything goes perfectly and we have a little luck too, we can certainly pick up a point or a win. But everything really has to come together!"

"We want to show ourselves in the best possible light against the USA and Sweden"

Also against the defending champions USA and against Sweden Austria should approach the game with confidence: "The USA are the reigning U20 world champions and have an incredible number of good players. Sweden, too, have been in a class of their own at senior and junior level for many years. Like Finland, they sometimes seem to be playing a different sport. But we want to give the best possible account of ourselves in these games as well!" 

Pinter, who took part in the __OEHV_NUM_AF_A__ World Juniors as a player alongside his assistants Patrick Harand and Mathias Lange who took part in the World Juniors 2003/2004 cannot help but wax lyrical: "We were really carefree back then; today’s players are much better trained. The quality of the players is exceptional. Many are 17, 18 or 19 years old – what they conjure up on the ice is truly impressive. You do not see that every day, even as a coach!"

The eyes of Patrick Harand also light up when he thinks about the U20 World Championship and his personal highlight.

At the 2003/2004 World Juniors in Helsinki, the Vienna native was Austria's leading scorer with five points (1 goal, 4 assists) from six games, ahead of Thomas Vanek: "If we perform as a team and pull together, then we are capable of causing an upset. We saw it with the senior national team and the great games it produced at the World Championship. We want to build on that spirit and those performances with the U20 national team!" 

It is only when looking back at the squad lists from that time that you realise what an international ice hockey stage the U20 World Championship is. Names such as Alexander Owetschkin, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Marc-André Fleury, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler and Brent Burns.

However, a very strong Austrian generation also emerged from the U20 national team at the time. Alongside Harand, Pinter and Lange, Thomas Vanek, Andreas Nödl, Rafael Rotter, Manuel Latusa and Niki Petrik launched their careers in Finland.

Pinter and his coaching staff have defined their goals

For the current Austrian U20 cohort, Head Coach Philipp Pinter and his coaching staff have set out their World Championship plan for Edmonton:

"The goal is for us to present ourselves as well as possible and represent Austrian ice hockey well. The lads should not hide on this stage and should show what they can do. In addition to good performances, our aim is to get on the board for the first time at a U20 World Championship in the top division. As no one can be relegated, the goal of staying in the top division does not apply to us. We want to take it one game at a time and, ideally, reach the quarter-finals!"

He adds: "For us as a coaching team, it is also important that our team learns to improve from game to game. We have already had and achieved that in recent years. We need that again this year: to handle pressure situations better, to apply pressure and to ensure that our offence functions well too."

2022 IIHF World Junior Championship

9–20 August 2022, Edmonton (CAN)

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

Schedule
Dates and times are in our local time zone, with the local time given in brackets.

Germany vs. Austria
Thu, 11 August 2022, 04:00 (Wed, 10 August 2022, 20:00 local time)

Austria vs. Sweden
Fri, 12 August 2022, 20:00 (Fri, 12 August 2022, 12:00 local time)

Austria vs. USA
Sat, 13 August 2022, 20:00 (Sat, 13 August 2022, 12:00)

Switzerland vs. Austria
Mon, 15 August 2022, 20:00 (Mon, 15 August 2022, 12:00)

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