In a strange way, this will be Austria’s third straight appearance in the elite group of the World Championship, although fate intervened on a couple of occasions to keep that streak alive. Following the team’s relegation from the 2019 World Championship in Slovakia, the Austrians were scheduled to play in Divsion I Group A but both the 2020 and 2021 tournaments at that level were cancelled due to the pandemic. This year, Austria was again slated to take part in the second-highest group but, after the suspension from participation of Russia and Belarus, was promoted along with France to join the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Finland.

Now playing in Group A in Tampere, the Austrians will try to keep that streak alive and qualify for fourth straight appearance in the top division in 2023. That will be the primary goal of Austria, which has won two World Championship bronze medals but those came in 1931 and 1947.

Austria’s 25-man preliminary roster almost exclusively plays domestically in the ICEHL, with also four players based in Switzerland and one – 18-year-old Marco Kasper – playing in the top Swedish league.

Goaltending

Bernhard Starkbaum, 36, and David Kickert, 28, are both long-time netminders for the Austrian national team, with Starkbaum generally being the starter until they more-or-less shared the crease in 2019. In Olympic Qualifying last August, Kickert appeared in all three games with Starkbaum making one start but getting pulled partway through.

This season, they both played for the Vienna Capitals and, again, more-or-less shared the crease in the regular season, with Starkbaum playing 24 games and Kickert 21. In the playoffs, Starkbaum played eight of 10 games. All of that goes to show that there’s no clear-cut starter here, and coach Roger Bader is likely go with whomever has the hot hand.

A third option is 30-year-old David Madlener of Dornbirner EC, who played in two World Championship games in 2018 in Denmark.

Defence

The defence is almost exclusively Austrian-based, with 25-year-old Bernd Wolf, who plays for HC Lugano in Switzerland, the lone exception. Wolf won’t be counted on for much offence, however, with nine points in 113 career National League games.

Dominique Heinrich of Red Bull Salzburg and Clemens Unterwenter of KAC Klagenfurt are Austria’s two most experienced blueliners, having played in three and two previous elite-level World Championships, respectively. At 31 and 30 years of age, they are also the oldest.

At the other end of the scale, 20-year-old Philipp Wimmer is both the team’s youngest and biggest D-man at 194 cm and 93 kg. However, while he played 10 ICEHL games for Salzburg, he played most of the season for the club’s junior team in the AlpsHL, so it remains to be seen if he plays and, if so, how much.

In any case, this group will have its hands full against some of Group A’s faster and stronger teams.

Forwards

Although depth will be an issue, there is some talent and some experience among Austria’s group of forwards. Leading the way is captain Thomas Raffl, now 35, who debuted at the elite level in 2011 and has 21 points in 39 career World Championship games. He’s also one of three holdovers from Austria’s 2014 Olympic appearance. The others are goalie Starkbaum and 33-year-old right-winger Brian Lebler, who scored five of the team’s seven goals at last August’s Olympic Qualifier.

A pair of younger players from the Swiss National League that will be expected to share some of the offensive load are 25-year-old Dominik Zwerger and 22-year-old Benjamin Baumgartner, the latter a New Jersey Devils prospect. Zwerger will be playing in his third World Championship while Baumgartner appeared in four games as an 18-year-old in 2018. At just 176 cm and 81 kg, it will be interesting to see if his shiftiness translates into success at this level.

An even more interesting prospect on Austria’s roster is young centre Marco Kasper, who is projected to be a first-round NHL Draft pick this year. Despite just turning 18 last month, Kasper is coming off an impressive rookie pro season in which he helped Rogle Angelholm to the Swedish Hockey League finals.

Otherwise, Michael Raffl, the younger brother of the team captain, is currently playing for the Dallas Stars and if they got knocked out in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he would be a huge addition to the team. The two Raffls have played together on multiple occasions in the past and shown great chemistry.

Coaching

Swiss-born Roger Bader has coached in Austria since 2014 and been head coach of the men’s national team since 2017. In his first year behind the bench, Austria avoided relegation from the elite group for the first time since 2004. The following year in Bratislava, they were relegated following a shootout loss to Italy in the final game.

Bader’s top assistant is Arno Del Curto, a legend in Switzerland and long-time coach and GM of HC Davos, where he won six national titles. Del Curto was head coach of Switzerland’s U20 team for three years in the mid-90s but hasn’t coached a national team since. He is well familiar with international hockey, however, having coached in the Spengler Cup on an annual basis for over two decades.

Predicted results

As the lowest seed in Group B, the quarter-finals can’t be seen as a realistic goal for the Austrians – they’ve only done that once previously in 1994 – but staying in the elite division certainly is. The last game of the group stage against Great Britain on 23 May is obviously the game both teams have circled on their calendars, but any points that can be earned before that could prove vital. The games against Norway and Latvia could be opportunities for that.