Women’s National Team: Mission Olympics 2026 begins in Lille­hammer

“Our expectations for this week are high. We have a strong squad with Anna Meixner and players from the EWHL. I’m very much looking forward to seeing them all on the ice,” explains Head Coach Alexander Bröms, who will travel by car to the neighbouring country thanks to its proximity to his native Sweden.

As he himself emphasises, he can call upon a high-quality squad featuring several key players from the home World Championship last April. First and foremost is captain Anna Meixner, who begins her first PWHL season with Ottawa on 21 November. There are also numerous players competing for Austrian EWHL clubs, as well as the overseas-based players Selma Luggin (ECDC Memmingen/GER), Gloria Henek (GCK Lions Zürich/SUI), Laura Nagy (Ironbound/USA), Leonie Kutzer (EV Zug/SUI) and Emma Lintner (Stanstead Varsity/CAN).

“This week is very important for us with a view to the Olympic qualifying tournament and the Division IA World Championship in April in Shenzhen (CHN). We want to continue driving our development forward. At the start, it will be important to go through our playbook once again,” says Bröms.

On 8 and 9 November, there will be two high-quality friendlies against two nations that earned promotion to the World Championship Top Division in April – Hungary and Norway, Alexander Bröms: “They are two really good opponents who are also already preparing for their World Championship. These games will help us see where we stand, what level we are currently at and which players could be an option for us in the future. It is important for us to play against nations from Group A, as we want to get there ourselves as quickly as possible.”

A further team camp will follow in December, before preparations for the Olympic qualifying tournament begin at the end of January/start of February. It will be played from 6 to 9 February in Bremerhaven (GER), where Austria will face hosts Germany, Hungary and a qualifier. The winner will secure a ticket to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. 

Women’s November Break

Hungary vs. Austria
Fri., 8 November 2024, 19:00, Lillehammer (NOR)

Norway vs. Austria
Sat., 9 November 2024, 16:00, Lillehammer (NOR)

Squad