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The U20 team is participating in a World Cup A for the fourth time and is looking forward to its first red-white-red tournament victory from December 25 to January 5. The competition for super talent Marco Rossi and his colleagues seems overwhelming, the final opponent likely to be the Czech Republic within reach.
Austria starts at Rogers Place in Group B against USA (December 27, 3.30 am CET), then waits with Sweden (December 29, 0.00 / ORF Sport + live) and the Russians supervised by the legend Igor Larionov (December 30, 3:30 am) two more contenders for the medal before the Czech Republic meets on New Year’s Eve (December 31, 20:00 / ORF Sport + live).
“If they take us seriously, it will be difficult”
“The first three rivals are playing for the world championship title. If they take us seriously, it will be difficult to get good results. We must not let ourselves go crazy,” explained team boss Roger Bader. “The Czech Republic also has a lot of good players, but they are in a class among these three teams. There are also surprise victories, that’s what we are looking for,” said Bader, who also thinks outside of the results. “We want to show that we are right in group A. We don’t want to hide, we want to play tough, we want to upset our opponents. We want people to say that we didn’t think Austria was that strong.”
Captain Rossi has similar expectations. “We want to improve from game to game, learn from it. If that is successful, we could have a surprise win against the Czech Republic,” said the 19-year-old center, who was selected by Minnesota Wild at number nine and now has a three-year contract with the NHL. Club has signed. The one from Vorarlberg, who played for two years in the Canadian OHL youth league, knows many of the stars of this tournament and knows what to expect from his team. “It is important not to give the major nations too much time, otherwise we will make it easier for them. If you pressure them, they will also have difficulties,” said Rossi. However, with Thimo Nickl and Kilian Zndel selected by the Anaheim Ducks, two of the best defenders are out because of Corona.
“A gift that we cannot lower”
Since there is no decline due to the corona pandemic, Austria will also be there next year. “It is a gift that we cannot relegate. We can play more liberated and cheeky,” Bader said. Then it will be played again in Alberta, as originally planned for this year in Edmonton and Red Deer, and hopefully in front of the spectators again. And probably again in front of scouts, who are not allowed to step onto the world’s biggest youth stage this year. In a normal year there would be around 250 scouts, but this year they can only watch the tournament on television.
Scouts will see a young Austrian team. Bader traveled to the province of Alberta with five 17-year-olds and the only 16-year-old Marco Kasper, the son of former team defender Peter Kasper. Half of the squad could return next year.
In the three previous appearances in the U20 World Cup, which has been held since 1977, Austria has failed to win. The closest they got was on January 3, 2004, when the EHV team took a 2-1 lead thanks to Thomas Vanek’s brace against Ukraine and conceded the goal tie.
Rossi and Peeters in live chat today
U20 local cracks Marco Rossi and Senna Peeters will be available for a live chat for the IIHF World Ice Hockey Federation starting at 7pm today. More on this in the following Facebook post:
Austria’s U-20 team in A-WM so far
The Austrian U20 ice hockey team plays for the fourth time in a World Cup A. The EHV team remains without a win in the elite group, a 2-2 draw against Ukraine thanks to two goals from Thomas Vanek in January 2004 was the best result so far. A review:
- 1981 (December 1980 / January 1981 in Bavaria): Austria was there for the first time at the fifth edition of the World Junior A Championships, which has been held since 1977. The competition for Konrad Dorn, Helmut Petrik, Gnther Koren and Co. was overwhelming. In the group stage there were three major disadvantages against the Soviet Union (1:19), the Czech Republic (4:21) and Canada (1:11), in the relegation round they had no chance against Germany and the United States. Austria achieved promotion at the U20 B World Cup in March 1980 in Klagenfurt. After an easy entry into the tournament with a 19: 3 against Hungary, Thomas Cijan, Walter Znenahlik, Peter Raffl, Petrik, Gert Kompajn, Bernie Hutz, Leo Sivec and Co. won the decisive games against Norway (2: 1) and in the final against Poland (4: 3).
- 2004 (December 2003 / January 2004 in Finland / Helsinki and Hmeenlinna): Team boss Herbert Pck’s team conceded clear defeats to the United States (0: 8) and Sweden (0: 7) and was shown against the Russians, led by Alexander Ovetschkin and Yevgeny Malkin, with a 1: 3. In the latter In the match against Ukraine, the Austrians went ahead 2-1 until the 56th minute thanks to a double from Thomas Vanek and finally scored their only point at 2-2. Vanek with three goals and Patrick Harand with five scoring points in six games were the most productive. Andreas Ndl and Rafael Rotter were also there at the age of 16, and Manuel Latusa, Mathias Lange, Nik Petrik and Martin Oraze became team players for many years. At the previous B-World Cup in Bled in December 2002, in which EHV talents won all five games, Vanek and later team supporters Oliver Setzinger, Thomas Koch and Daniel Welser were the participants.
- 2010 (December 2009 / January 2010 in Saskatchewan / Canada): Under coach Dieter Werfring there were clear defeats against major nations early on, before Slovakia (2: 3) and Latvia (4: 6) fell by a narrow margin in the relegation round. Konstantin Komarek, the youngest of the team at the age of 17, scored five goals and is Austria’s best scorer in the A-World Cup. With captain Dominique Heinrich, Andreas Kristler, Stefan Ulmer, Alexander Pallestrang, Fabio Hofer and Peter Schneider, other current players on the team were in action. Thomas Hundertpfund, Michael Schiechl and Raphael Herburger also contributed to the promotion to the B-WM in December 2008 in Aalborg.
- 2021 (Dec 2020 / Jan 2021 in Edmonton): In December 2019, Marco Pewal’s selection reached the B-WM in Minsk despite false starts against host Belarus (3: 4). Led by Benjamin Baumgartner (5 goals, 6 assists in 5 matches) Austria won every match. Seven men from the promotion team are also in Edmonton this year, including Baumgartner, Paul Huber and defenders Julian Payr and David Maier are out of the team, and Thimo Nickl is not due to a positive corona test. Team Principal Roger Bader’s team is led by Marco Rossi of the NHL Minnesota Wild club.
