World Cham­pi­onship prepa­ra­tions: Italy as the second bench­mark

"Our objectives remain unchanged: the players should show themselves at their best," said Head Coach Roger Bader looking ahead to the first friendly. While Italy were the opposition in the third week of preparations last year, this time Austria are a week earlier. "We are still a little further away from the World Championship," said Bader, who has been satisfied with the week so far: "We have trained and worked well."

Following Marco Kasper, a second player has now definitively been ruled out of the World Championship through injury: Raphael Herburger will no longer be available to the team. Patrick Antal of the Vienna Capitals has joined the current team camp in his place and will now have the chance to impress against Italy.

Traditional rivalry nearing its 100th meeting

Austria and Italy have faced each other 95 times in their history, producing countless emotional moments. One of the most painful in recent memory was undoubtedly the 3:4 shoot-out defeat at the 2019 World Championship, when Austria hit the post shortly before the end and subsequently missed out on staying in the top division.

Austria hold the edge in the all-time record, with 45 wins, 12 draws and 38 defeats from 95 games. Their last meeting, in Innsbruck last year, ended in a 5:0 victory. Incidentally, Austria went unbeaten in ten games between 2012 and 2017.

The match-ups Nos. 96 and 97 are scheduled for 12 April at 20:00 away in Bruneck and Friday, 14 April at 17:30 in Innsbruck. Both games will be streamed on LIVE.eishockey.at. Week 3 then sees Austria travel to face Germany.

Team Camp #2 squad, Innsbruck

Senior national team dates and schedule for World Championship preparation

Training camp 1
2–6 April 2023, Villach

Training camp 2
9–14 April 2023, Innsbruck

Training camp 3
17–22 April 2023, Deggendorf (GER)

Team camp 4
25–29 April 2023, Vienna

Team camp 5
2–6 May 2023, Kapfenberg

Warm-up matches

(subject to change)

Austria vs. Slovenia 3:5 (1:2, 2:1, 0:2)
Thu, 6 April 2023, 17:30, Villach
Austria goalscorers: Emilio Romig (20th/PP1), Nico Feldner (25th/PP1, 28th)
Slovenia goalscorers: Blaž Tomaževič (7), Jan Drozg (15), Ken Ograjenšek (31), Robert Sabolič (52/PP1), Žiga Pance (59/SH1/EN)

Italy vs. Austria
Wed, 12 April 2023, 20:00, Bruneck (ITA)
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Austria vs. Italy
Fri, 14 April 2023, 17:30, Innsbruck
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Germany vs. Austria
Thu, 20 April 2023, 19:30, Deggendorf (GER)
Live on ORF Sport+

Germany vs. Austria
Sat, 22 April 2023, 17:00, Landshut (GER)
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Austria vs. Czechia
Thu, 27 April 2023, 18:30, Vienna
Live on ORF Sport+

Czechia vs. Austria
Sat, 29 April 2023, 16:00, Brno (CZE)
Live on ORF Sport+

Austria vs. Slovakia
Thu, 4 May 2023, 18:30, Kapfenberg
Live on ORF Sport+

Slovakia vs. Austria
Sat, 6 May 2023, 16:00, Trencin (SVK)
Live on ORF Sport+