Eishockey
With a more experienced squad, Austria’s national team is playing the next friendly matches for the World Cup in Tampere, Finland, which begins on May 12th. Against Germany on Thursday (7.30 p.m., live ORF Sport +) in Deggendorf and on Saturday (5 p.m.) in Landshut, team boss Roger Bader has a few players available who were missing in the international doubles against Italy last week.
Manuel Ganahl, Lukas Haudum and Steven Strong are strengthening the national team from KAC, while goalkeeper Bernhard Starkbaum and Nico Brunner are joining from the Vienna Capitals. With Senna Peeters from HC Innsbruck there is also a debutant in the squad.
Austria and Germany have faced each other 77 times on the ice. The last red-white-red victory was almost exactly four years ago. At the most recent meeting last autumn, they lost 3-0 in Krefeld against the established A-Nation. After the double against Germany, tests against the Czech Republic in Vienna (April 27) and in Brno (April 29) await next week. In May, two games against Slovakia will put the finishing touches on before the World Cup.
Bader hopes for many games against top opponents
“It has been shown that they take us seriously as good Test opponents. You have to work for it first, and we have worked for it. I hope that we can play more and more opponents like that,” said head coach Bader. The players from ICE finalist Red Bull Salzburg, the injured defenders David Reinbacher and Thimo Nickl and center Oliver Achermann from the Swiss second division champions La Chaux-de-Fonds are still missing from the squad.
Germany, also at the World Cup from May 12th to 28th in group A in Tampere, opponents of the ÖEHV selection, has clearly lost its first two friendlies against the Czech Republic. In the meantime, national coach Harold Kreis has been reinforced by team captain Moritz Müller and former NHL striker Dominik Kahun (SC Bern), among others. NHL forwards Nico Sturm (San Jose Sharks) and JJ Peterka (Buffalo Sabres) will also travel to the World Cup. Among others, defender Moritz Seider from the Detroit Red Wings canceled.