Austrian forward Peter Schneider celebrates a goal during the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
When you talk about the Capitals’ best player and the league’s leading goal-scorer, everybody knows who you’re talking about.
Or perhaps not. You see, while all those descriptors could apply to Alexander Ovechkin, the superstar winger of the Washington Capitals and the Russian national team, they also fit Austria’s Peter Schneider. The 28-year-old forward led the EBEL League with 35 goals and 69 points for the Vienna Capitals in 2018/19.
This locally born star has no shortage of life experience and smarts. Over the years, he’s suited up everywhere from the Czech junior leagues to the ECHL. The 183-cm, 91-kg Schneider also earned a double major in economics and finance at the University of Notre Dame while playing hockey for the Fighting Irish.
Now Schneider is hoping to help keep his native land in the elite division of the IIHF World Championship for the second straight year. In 2018, Austria became the first newly promoted nation since France in 2008 to avoid getting relegated. Playing in Group B in Bratislava – less than an hour away from Vienna – will almost be like a home-ice tournament, albeit on a slightly smaller scale than what Sweden experienced last year in the Danish capital of Copenhagen.
Truly, it’s been a long and bumpy road to redemption since the Austrians were sent down on home ice in 2005. But now things are trending up under third-year head coach Roger Bader. If Schneider’s line with 2000-born centre Benjamin Baumgartner of HC Davos and six-year NHL veteran Michael Raffl of the Philadelphia Flyers can exceed the sum of its contrasting parts, it’ll be a major plus in Bratislava.
Austria – currently 17th in the IIHF World Ranking – battled hard in an entertaining, see-saw 7-6 exhibition loss to Canada on 7 May at Vienna’s Erste Bank Arena. “They were ready for us and we were a little sloppy right off the bat,” admitted Canada’s Jonathan Marchessault. We chatted with Schneider afterwards.
What did you think about the way your team played in its final tune-up before the Worlds?
We wanted to play our game for 60 minutes and put a lot of pressure on the opponent, no matter who it is. We knew Canada was a world-class team. We still wanted to play our game, be aggressive, and play well defensively, skate with them. I think we did pretty well for 60 minutes.
How excited are you about playing in Bratislava?
It's going to be awesome. I think there's going to be a lot of Austrian fans coming. I actually played there a couple of years [Slovan Bratislava U20 in 2009/10], so I'm really excited. It should be fun.
How do you account for the fantastic season you had with the Capitals?
I think we played well as a team. We had a great season as a team. When the team's playing well, it's easy to perform well individually. So I was glad I had a great year.
And you parlayed that league scoring title into a new contract with Biel. What made Switzerland an attractive option for 2019/20?
The Swiss NLA is a world-class league. It was pretty easy once I got the opportunity to go there. That was the right option for me. I'm very excited to be joining that league. I think they only have four imports per team, so you don't often get the chance. When I got it, I grabbed it right away.
You’ve played with some elite players over the years. At Notre Dame, your teammates included future New York Islanders captain Anders Lee and two-time Stanley Cup champion Bryan Rust of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Do you stay in touch?
Yeah, of course! Not as much as we used to be. I mean, it's different time zones and different schedules. But every once in a while, we text each other or message each other on Instagram. Both are great guys. They had great seasons, both of them. So yeah, I think I'm going to message them after this game and see how they're doing. Thanks for the reminder!
Getting back to your national team, last year you earned a critical 4-0 win over Belarus with three power-play goals. Will the power play be critical for you again in Bratislava?
I think the most important thing is that we play our game for 60 minutes. But of course, special teams in the tight games can make a difference. We've definitely got to work on that and improve as the tournament goes on.
Any differences between this year’s team and last year’s team?
I think we're a tight-knit group every year. We had a couple of injuries last year. For instance, our captain Thomas Raffl wasn't able to make the tournament. I think he's going to help a lot. This year, I think we have a little bit of a better team than last year. I hope we can show that.
Can you defeat Latvia in your opener on Saturday?
It depends on how we play. If we play our game for 60 minutes, I think it's going to be a tight game. If we skate with them and put pressure on them, it can be interesting.
Or perhaps not. You see, while all those descriptors could apply to Alexander Ovechkin, the superstar winger of the Washington Capitals and the Russian national team, they also fit Austria’s Peter Schneider. The 28-year-old forward led the EBEL League with 35 goals and 69 points for the Vienna Capitals in 2018/19.
This locally born star has no shortage of life experience and smarts. Over the years, he’s suited up everywhere from the Czech junior leagues to the ECHL. The 183-cm, 91-kg Schneider also earned a double major in economics and finance at the University of Notre Dame while playing hockey for the Fighting Irish.
Now Schneider is hoping to help keep his native land in the elite division of the IIHF World Championship for the second straight year. In 2018, Austria became the first newly promoted nation since France in 2008 to avoid getting relegated. Playing in Group B in Bratislava – less than an hour away from Vienna – will almost be like a home-ice tournament, albeit on a slightly smaller scale than what Sweden experienced last year in the Danish capital of Copenhagen.
Truly, it’s been a long and bumpy road to redemption since the Austrians were sent down on home ice in 2005. But now things are trending up under third-year head coach Roger Bader. If Schneider’s line with 2000-born centre Benjamin Baumgartner of HC Davos and six-year NHL veteran Michael Raffl of the Philadelphia Flyers can exceed the sum of its contrasting parts, it’ll be a major plus in Bratislava.
Austria – currently 17th in the IIHF World Ranking – battled hard in an entertaining, see-saw 7-6 exhibition loss to Canada on 7 May at Vienna’s Erste Bank Arena. “They were ready for us and we were a little sloppy right off the bat,” admitted Canada’s Jonathan Marchessault. We chatted with Schneider afterwards.
What did you think about the way your team played in its final tune-up before the Worlds?
We wanted to play our game for 60 minutes and put a lot of pressure on the opponent, no matter who it is. We knew Canada was a world-class team. We still wanted to play our game, be aggressive, and play well defensively, skate with them. I think we did pretty well for 60 minutes.
How excited are you about playing in Bratislava?
It's going to be awesome. I think there's going to be a lot of Austrian fans coming. I actually played there a couple of years [Slovan Bratislava U20 in 2009/10], so I'm really excited. It should be fun.
How do you account for the fantastic season you had with the Capitals?
I think we played well as a team. We had a great season as a team. When the team's playing well, it's easy to perform well individually. So I was glad I had a great year.
And you parlayed that league scoring title into a new contract with Biel. What made Switzerland an attractive option for 2019/20?
The Swiss NLA is a world-class league. It was pretty easy once I got the opportunity to go there. That was the right option for me. I'm very excited to be joining that league. I think they only have four imports per team, so you don't often get the chance. When I got it, I grabbed it right away.
You’ve played with some elite players over the years. At Notre Dame, your teammates included future New York Islanders captain Anders Lee and two-time Stanley Cup champion Bryan Rust of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Do you stay in touch?
Yeah, of course! Not as much as we used to be. I mean, it's different time zones and different schedules. But every once in a while, we text each other or message each other on Instagram. Both are great guys. They had great seasons, both of them. So yeah, I think I'm going to message them after this game and see how they're doing. Thanks for the reminder!
Getting back to your national team, last year you earned a critical 4-0 win over Belarus with three power-play goals. Will the power play be critical for you again in Bratislava?
I think the most important thing is that we play our game for 60 minutes. But of course, special teams in the tight games can make a difference. We've definitely got to work on that and improve as the tournament goes on.
Any differences between this year’s team and last year’s team?
I think we're a tight-knit group every year. We had a couple of injuries last year. For instance, our captain Thomas Raffl wasn't able to make the tournament. I think he's going to help a lot. This year, I think we have a little bit of a better team than last year. I hope we can show that.
Can you defeat Latvia in your opener on Saturday?
It depends on how we play. If we play our game for 60 minutes, I think it's going to be a tight game. If we skate with them and put pressure on them, it can be interesting.