Peter Schneider: “We couldn’t finish, we couldn’t score”
© Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports - Peter Schneider: “We couldn’t finish, we couldn’t score”Austria last played in the Winter Olympics in 2014 in Sochi, and the drought will continue for at least another four years. After two quick games and two 2-1 losses, their hopes of advancing to the 2026 Winter Olympics are already finished.
On Thursday against Slovakia, the team started slowly, fell behind 2-0 in the second period, then pushed hard late but came up short. On Friday against Kazakhstan, the Austrians outshot their opponents 46-22 but were only able to find the net once.
“We knew it was going to be a hard tournament against really good opponents,” veteran winger Peter Schneider, who plays for Red Bull Salzburg in the ICEHL, began. “I think we’ve played two pretty good games but we couldn’t finish, we couldn’t score, and that was the main issue. Otherwise, we would have won at least one of these games.”
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Did giving up that fluky goal right away put you in a tough position?
“Yeah, of course, it’s always tough when you’re one goal down but there was still lots of time and we thought if we did everything right for the rest of the game, we would score and we would win. But tonight, the puck just didn’t go in. Not enough, anyway.”
After the way the team played during the World Championship, was there confidence within the team that you had a good chance of advancing?
“Of course, but we started with Slovakia, who won the bronze medal in the Olympics, so I don’t know if people expected us to be the favorites here. We knew we were underdogs just like in the World Championship, and if everything went right, maybe we could win, but we knew it was going to be tough. It didn’t work out and it’s disappointing, but that’s hockey. That’s life.
How do you regroup for the last game against Hungary?
“It’s always an honor to play for your country and so you want to show your best effort and win, even if it doesn’t mean anything.”
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