World Cham­pi­onship 2024: Austria expect a ‘play-off game’ against Norway

‘Norway have a good first line, they defend well and play very physically,’ analyses Head Coach Roger Bader. Mats Zuccarello, Marco Rossi's Minnesota Wild teammate, plays on the aforementioned first line and recorded 63 points (12 goals, 51 assists) in the NHL regular season. Patrick Thoresen, another experienced NHL veteran, lines up alongside him.

Like Austria, Norway will also face Great Britain in their final game. The Scandinavians currently have three points, thanks to their 2:0 win over Denmark. They put up a strong fight in games against the major ice hockey nations of Switzerland, Czechia, Finland and Canada, but ultimately left the ice empty-handed.

‘They have delivered good performances at this World Championship so far. Norway will be a tough nut to crack, but we will be the same for them,’ says Head Coach Roger Bader of the upcoming clash, which he sees as a genuine ‘play-off game’.

‘When you look at how Czechia started the game against us, you could see that they simply played straightforward hockey. They got the puck behind our defencemen, we had to work hard for every puck and, when you win the puck, you still have to go 60 metres to the other goal. We have to take that on board and apply it against nations that are supposedly on our level as well. Then it will certainly be a close game,’ explains Captain Thomas Raffl.

Austria and Norway last faced each other during the February breaks of 2023 and 2024. Both encounters were decided only in the penalty shoot-out, with Austria winning in 2023, while Norway left the ice victorious in 2024. At the 2024 World Championship, they will meet for the 57th time overall and for the 7th time at Top Division World Championships.

Overall record: 19 wins, 5 draws, 32 defeats
Record at Top Division World Championships: 2 wins, 5 defeats

2024 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Schedule

Norway vs. Austria
Sun, 19 May 2024, 16:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Austria vs. Great Britain
Tue, 21 May 2024, 12:20, live on ORF 1

Already played:

Czechia vs. Austria 4:0 (1:0,2:0,1:0)
Fri, 17 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 17.413
Czech Republic goalscorers: Ondřej Kaše (20'/PS), Dominik Kubalík (36'/PP1), Jakub Flek (37'/PP1), David Tomášek (42')

Finland vs. Austria 2:3 (2:0,0:1,0:2)
Thu, 16 May 2024, 16:20, Prague Arena, 15.387
Finland goalscorers: Saku Mäenalanen (3'), Oliver Kapanen (9')
Austria goalscorers: Mario Huber (24'), Thimo Nickl (50'), Benjamin Baumgartner (60')

Canada vs. Austria 7:6 AET (3:1,3:0,0:5,1:0)
Tue, 14 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 14.704
Canada goalscorers: Dylan Cozens (7'), Kaiden Guhle (10'), Bowen Byram (14'), Jared McCann (23'), Connor Bedard (30'), Pierre-Luc Dubois (38'). John Taveres (61')
Austria goalscorers: Benjamin Nissner (11'), Benjamin Baumgartner (44'), Peter Schneider (45', 56'), Dominic Zwerger (51'), Marco Rossi (60')

Austria vs. Switzerland 5:6 (2:1,2:3,1:2)
Sun, 12 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 13.512
Austria goalscorers: Clemens Unterweger (5'), Paul Huber (15'), Lukas Haudum (22'/PP1, 35'/PP1), Benjamin Baumgartner (53')
Switzerland goalscorers: Roman Josi (16'/PP2, 30'/PP2), Nico Hischier (23', 41'/PP1, 60'/PP1), Ken Jäger (30'/PP1)

Austria vs. Denmark 1:5 (1:2,0:1,0:2)
Sat, 11 May 2024, 16:20, Prague Arena, 15.719
Austria goalscorer: Manuel Ganahl (20')
Denmark goalscorers: Markus Lauridsen (14), Frederik Storm (17, SH1), Joachim Blichfeld (39, 59, PP1), Felix Scheel (54)