photo: Andre Ringuette/IIHF
Thomas Vanek was only the fourth Austrian inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame this past May and only second player after Josef Puschnig. The son of a hockey player, Vanek started skating early and became too good for the system at home. And so he began a journey abroad to develop into a world-class player.
That journey started in 1997 when he played for Austria at the famous Quebec Pee Wee tournament and was named MVP. It continued a year later when he returned, and later in 1998 he moved to Alberta to play bantam hockey. From there, he moved south to play in the USHL, and after three years he played NCAA hockey for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. In his first year, Vanek scored the winning goal in the Frozen Four, giving the U of M a national championship.
“I moved to Canada at 14,” he explained. “I didn’t speak English, and I didn’t even know what I was chasing. When I told people I was from Austria, they said, ‘Wow, kangaroos,’” he joked. “The dream was to play for my club team and hopefully represent my country.”
Vanek ended up being drafted 5th overall by Buffalo in 2003, the highest selection ever for an Austrian player. During his second year with the Gophers, he also played at the 2004 World Juniors, captaining the team that was playing in the top level for the first time in 23 years. At the end of the NCAA season, Vanek joined the Austrian senior team for the World Championship in the Czech Republic.
“When I put the Austrian jersey on, it’s about passion, representing where I came from, doing it with joy,” he enthused. “Obviously, winning is always important when you out on any jersey—it doesn’t matter at what level—but whenever I got to put this on, it’s old teammates that I played with as a kid and got to do again later at the World Championships and Olympics. And playing in front of the Austrian fans to me was always so special because you don’t get that feeling playing in the NHL.”
Vanek turned pro that summer and played 2004-05 with the Sabres’ AHL affiliate in Rochester during the NHL lockout. A year later, he joined the Sabres and never looked back. Big and strong, Vanek had a great shot and was ever dangerous around the goal. As a rookie, he had 25 goals, and a year later, 43. In his first seven seasons with the Sabres, Vanek had three seasons of at least 25 goals, two 30-goal seasons, and two 40-goal seasons.
Like any kid, the progression came about at his own pace. For him, Vanek realized the NHL dream was in reach only in his late teens.
“I think it was my draft year, to be honest, because it probably wasn’t until I was 17 or 18 that I really, really thought about playing in the NHL,” he continued. “Maybe there is a way, maybe there is a path. Back then there was no social media. You didn’t see rankings. You just played. And then you did interviews with NHL teams and found out where you stood.”
In all, Vanek had 789 points in 1,029 NHL games. In 2013-14, he became the first Austrian to captain an NHL team when the Sabres gave him the “C” for home games (Steve Ott captained the road games).
He didn’t play for his country as often as he would have liked, but that’s only because the team was often in Division I of the World Championship, a level which played during the NHL season. Nevertheless, he managed to play at the 2008 World Championship, Division I-A, helping the Austrians finish first and gain promotion for the top level in 2009. He had done the same at the World Junior level in 2003.
Vanek played at three top-level World Championships and captained the 2014 Olympic team, which remains the last time the Austrians played at the Olympics. In 2016, he was also the only Austrian named to Team Europe for the World Cup.
So what was his particular skill set? What allowed him to succeed where other Austrians didn’t?
“I think I was able to play a thousand games because…it wasn’t the speed. I had a good shot, but I think it was my brain, my hockey I.Q. I think maybe I was a great player to play with as a linemate. I always wanted my linemates to have more success than me. I was labelled a goalscorer, but I thought I was a pretty good playmaker as well.”
Today, retired, Vanek sees greater days ahead for Austria, and he is happy to help in whatever way he can. First and foremost, that is by way of inspiration.
That journey started in 1997 when he played for Austria at the famous Quebec Pee Wee tournament and was named MVP. It continued a year later when he returned, and later in 1998 he moved to Alberta to play bantam hockey. From there, he moved south to play in the USHL, and after three years he played NCAA hockey for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. In his first year, Vanek scored the winning goal in the Frozen Four, giving the U of M a national championship.
“I moved to Canada at 14,” he explained. “I didn’t speak English, and I didn’t even know what I was chasing. When I told people I was from Austria, they said, ‘Wow, kangaroos,’” he joked. “The dream was to play for my club team and hopefully represent my country.”
Vanek ended up being drafted 5th overall by Buffalo in 2003, the highest selection ever for an Austrian player. During his second year with the Gophers, he also played at the 2004 World Juniors, captaining the team that was playing in the top level for the first time in 23 years. At the end of the NCAA season, Vanek joined the Austrian senior team for the World Championship in the Czech Republic.
“When I put the Austrian jersey on, it’s about passion, representing where I came from, doing it with joy,” he enthused. “Obviously, winning is always important when you out on any jersey—it doesn’t matter at what level—but whenever I got to put this on, it’s old teammates that I played with as a kid and got to do again later at the World Championships and Olympics. And playing in front of the Austrian fans to me was always so special because you don’t get that feeling playing in the NHL.”
Vanek turned pro that summer and played 2004-05 with the Sabres’ AHL affiliate in Rochester during the NHL lockout. A year later, he joined the Sabres and never looked back. Big and strong, Vanek had a great shot and was ever dangerous around the goal. As a rookie, he had 25 goals, and a year later, 43. In his first seven seasons with the Sabres, Vanek had three seasons of at least 25 goals, two 30-goal seasons, and two 40-goal seasons.
Like any kid, the progression came about at his own pace. For him, Vanek realized the NHL dream was in reach only in his late teens.
“I think it was my draft year, to be honest, because it probably wasn’t until I was 17 or 18 that I really, really thought about playing in the NHL,” he continued. “Maybe there is a way, maybe there is a path. Back then there was no social media. You didn’t see rankings. You just played. And then you did interviews with NHL teams and found out where you stood.”
In all, Vanek had 789 points in 1,029 NHL games. In 2013-14, he became the first Austrian to captain an NHL team when the Sabres gave him the “C” for home games (Steve Ott captained the road games).
He didn’t play for his country as often as he would have liked, but that’s only because the team was often in Division I of the World Championship, a level which played during the NHL season. Nevertheless, he managed to play at the 2008 World Championship, Division I-A, helping the Austrians finish first and gain promotion for the top level in 2009. He had done the same at the World Junior level in 2003.
Vanek played at three top-level World Championships and captained the 2014 Olympic team, which remains the last time the Austrians played at the Olympics. In 2016, he was also the only Austrian named to Team Europe for the World Cup.
So what was his particular skill set? What allowed him to succeed where other Austrians didn’t?
“I think I was able to play a thousand games because…it wasn’t the speed. I had a good shot, but I think it was my brain, my hockey I.Q. I think maybe I was a great player to play with as a linemate. I always wanted my linemates to have more success than me. I was labelled a goalscorer, but I thought I was a pretty good playmaker as well.”
Today, retired, Vanek sees greater days ahead for Austria, and he is happy to help in whatever way he can. First and foremost, that is by way of inspiration.
“I still live in the U.S., but it’s so great to see [Marco] Rossi going in the first round, [Marco] Casper, [David]Reinbacher. Not that I have anything to do with it because they did it all themselves, but looking at my journey and me seeing Michael Grabner come up, that was special because we got to play on the Islanders together. That was special—two Austrian kids playing on the same NHL team. That’s what’s important—having idols. When I grew up, my idols were Jagr, Lemieux. So hopefully young Austrian kids look up me—and Michael Grabner and the Raffls—and have a dream and chase it.”