World Cham­pi­onship 2024: Finland and the Czech Republic are the next medal contenders awaiting

“Incredible. We knew we were a very good team. We simply never stopped. The momentum was on our side then. All the emotions, the arena, it was all incredible. We will not forget this game for a very, very long time. We can be very, very proud of ourselves. We made history. It shows the character we have in this team,” NHL star Marco Rossi gave free rein to his emotions after the historic result and the point gained against Canada.

“Unbelievable. I think after the 1:6, nobody in the world believed in us anymore. Not even our own families, I think. We showed the whole world what is possible,” added Dominic Zwerger, who was named Best Player. Despite all the euphoria, however, the focus quickly turned to the upcoming challenges, Dominic Zwerger: “Never too high, never too low. We weren't too low after the defeat against Denmark and not too high after the good game against Switzerland, and we won't be now either.”

The players were given a day off on Wednesday to recharge their batteries. A break that is also needed, as Peter Schneider stresses: “Very important. A World Championship is an enormous physical challenge. We have to give everything in every game to have a chance. The few days off are very important so that the body can recover and you can also switch off from the game a little mentally.”

Only the goaltenders and players who did not feature against Canada took to the ice. Finland and the Czech Republic, the next medal contenders, await Austria on Thursday and Friday.

Head Coach Roger Bader: “We all rightly felt euphoric after yesterday's game, and of course the players and all of us were allowed to enjoy that. Today, we have to return to everyday business. We are still a long way from achieving our goal. Finland and the Czech Republic are two opponents competing for the title. Finland were world champions in 2019 and 2022, and Olympic champions in 2022. They are very well organised defensively, give nothing away and you have to work extremely hard for every scoring chance. It will be a very challenging game for us. Throughout our World Championship preparations, we have talked about the fact that we can only be successful at this level if we transition very quickly. That includes getting our shots away quickly. That is the way in every game: win the puck with good defensive play and good pressing, transition very quickly, finish and then wait for the next chance.”

Austria have already faced Finland at the World Championship in Tampere (FIN) in each of the past two years, losing both times after good performances, 0:3 and 1:3 respectively. They have faced each other 17 times in history so far. Austria earned draws against the four-time world champions in 1981 and at the World Championship 2000. Finland won the remaining games.

Head-to-head AUT vs. FIN

2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

10–26 May 2024
Hosts: Czechia
Group A – Prague: Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Czechia, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Great Britain
Group B – Ostrava: USA, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, Latvia, France, Kazakhstan, Poland

Schedule

Finland vs. Austria
Thu, 16 May 2024, 16:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Czechia vs. Austria
Fri, 17 May 2024, 20:20, live on ORF SPORT +

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 SPORT +

Already played:

Canada vs. Austria 7:6 n.V. (3:1,3:0,0:5,1:0)
Prague Arena, Group A, 20:20, Prague Arena, 14.704
Canada scorers: Dylan Cozens (7), Kaiden Guhle (10), Bowen Byram (14), Jared McCann (23), Connor Bedard (30), Pierre-Luc Dubois (38). John Taveres (61)
Austria scorers: 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')