Vinzenz Rohrer enjoying ride in first Worlds

The Austrians were all smiles after a 4-1 victory over Norway on Sunday assured they’d be staying in the top division of the IIHF World Championships for another year.

“It was a huge game for us,” said 19-year-old forward Vinzenz Rohrer, a third-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2022 and currently a member of the ZSC Lions in Switzerland. “Even before the tournament, our original goal was to stay in the group and we expected the last two games would be really, really big ones, and so to win this is really exciting for us.”

Rohrer’s first World Championship has been a remarkable one for Austria, which has so far featured a historic five-goal comeback against Canada and a last-second win against Finland. Throughout it all, the fan support for the Austrian team has been amazing, and they’ve been joined by a lot of nominally-impartial Czech fans who have lent their support. After six games of this, is he used to it yet?

“I don’t know. I mean, what is ‘used to it?’,” he smiled. “I asked the guys, ‘How many fans have we got here?’ Jesus, it was almost like a home game. It was crazy, they all sang Austrian songs before the game ended. I don’t know if that’s normal because it’s my first World Championship, but to see that in such a big arena is something that’s really nice.”

Although he’s played a limited role on the team, Rohrer has chipped in with a pair of assists and played a well-rounded game according to Peter Schneider, a veteran member of the Austrian national team and Rohrer’s roommate for this tournament.

“There’s a reason he was drafted that high,” said Schneider. “He’s an awesome young player – he can skate, he works hard, he blocks shots, and offensively he’s very skilled, so I think he’s going to have a bright future.”

It might seem like the youngster Rohrer was intentionally paired with 33-year-old Schneider to mentor him, but apparently it was rather accidental. Rohrer was playing in the National League finals in Switzerland, where he won a title, and Schneider was recovering from an injury, so they were the last two players to arrive at camp before the start of the World Championship.

“Obviously, it’s been a thought of mine to help him out a little bit and pass along some of the experience I have to him, but he’s an awesome young guy and we have the same sleep schedule, so it works out perfect,” said Schneider.

Schneider scored twice in Austria’s victory over Norway. “We were worried because we didn’t have such a good nap after lunch, but he had a great game and it worked out really well for the team,” Rohrer laughed.

As for the rest of the team and the success Austria is having despite being thinner on high-end talent than some of the other top hockey nations, Rohrer said, “Yeah, we’ve got a guy like Marco Rossi in the NHL, but I think it’s not so much the individual players but more the collective that puts us in a good position. Everywhere we go, whether it’s for lunch or sightseeing, it’s as a team, and I think that’s something that really translates well on the ice.”

Looking ahead, Austria has one more group stage game against Great Britain. A win in that game combined with Finland taking no more than three total points from its last two games against Denmark and Switzerland would put the Austrians in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1994.

“Our first goal was to stay in the group and we’ve done that, so now, obviously, we’re talking about the quarterfinals,” said Rohrer. “That was something that was in the back of our minds before but now it’s the next step. It’s not totally in our hands but we’ve just gotta win that game against Great Britain – that’s our focus – and if our neighbors (the Swiss) can help us out, that would be great.”