Next weekend, the Austrian national team will travel to Landshut Germany to play in the Deutschland Cup against Slovakia, Denmark and host Germany.
The 25-man roster includes 14 players who barely missed out on making the quarterfinals at last year’s IIHF World Championship in Prague.
“We have a good mix of experienced players and candidates for the 2025 World Championship who want to and can show what they can do,” said coach Roger Bader. “Some experienced players who are not there now are planned for the February break.”
Most of the team plays for Austrian clubs in the ICEHL but a handful play in Switzerland, including Montreal Canadiens prospect Vinzenz Rohrer and former New Jersey Devils prospect Benjamin Baumgartner, and one plays in Sweden – 18-year-old defenseman Gregor Biber of Rögle BK will be playing in his first tournament for Austria.
“I had that in the back of my mind, of course, but I never thought it would happen so quickly,” said Biber, who was a fourth-round pick of Utah HC this summer. “It’s a great feeling. I’ll try to play as much as possible, continue to develop and always do my best.”
Goaltenders: David Kickert (Red Bull Salzburg), Florian Vorauer (KAC Klagenfurt), Sebastian Wraneschitz (Vienna Capitals).
Defensemen: Gregor Biber (Rögle BK, SWE), Dominique Heinrich (Vienna Capitals), David Maier, Thimo Nickl, Clemens Unterweger (all KAC Klagenfurt), Ramon Schnetzer (Pioneers Vorarlberg), Paul Stapelfeldt (Red Bull Salzburg), Bernd Wolf (Kloten Flyers, SUI), Kilian Zundel (Graz 99ers).
Forwards: Benjamin Baumgartner (SC Bern, SUI), Nico Feldner, Henrik Neubauer (both Black Wings Linz), Lucas Haudum, Paul Huber (both Graz 99ers), Nikolaus Kraus, Lucas Thaler, Ali Wukovitz (all Red Bull Salzburg), Henrik Neubauer (Black Wings Linz), Daniel Obersteiner, Simeon Schwinger (both KAC Klagenfurt), Patrick Obrist (EHC Olten, SUI) Marco Richter (VSV Villach), Vinzenz Rohrer (ZSC Lions, SUI).