Hockey World Championship 2025: Slovakia will challenge Austria – what team do they have? (Analysis)
Stockholm. Austrian hockey is on the rise. In the last four years, eight Austrians have been drafted, of which three in the top ten draft.
Medium attackers Marco Rossi and Marco Kasper are already getting stable in Minnesota and Detroit, and will soon be joined by defender David Reinbacher in Montreal.
They also perform improved performance at top events. A year ago the Austrians reached 10. The place at MS in hockey The best result from 2003.
In the basic group they overcame Finnish 3: 2 and against Canada by five goals in the third period led the match to the overtime, creating a record in IIHF competitions.
A total of 21 goals scored in seven matches, which was most from 1949.
Coach Roger Bader seeks to imitate the gaming style of Switzerland and Germany – a sophisticated system, physical game, great dedication and dangerous breaks.
Thanks to excellent skating they can keep up with the best. They continue to make difficulties against qualitatively weaker teams than a year ago against the UK (2: 4), which spoiled the impression of an otherwise successful tournament.
Goalkeepers
The Austrians have a pair of experienced goalies – Atte Tolven and David Kickert.
The Finnish native traveled on Saturday to his wife waiting for their first offspring, so Kickert will start in the goal.
Defenders
Defensive leaders are 34-year-old Dominique Heinrich from Salzburg, Austria and 28-year-old Bernd Wolf from Kloten, Switzerland.
In the third defense, only 18-year-old Gregor Biber, who drafted in the 4th round of Utah Mammoth last year, is given the opportunity, but he has already played a complete season in Rögle BK, Sweden.
Attackers
The biggest star of the team is the 21-year-old Marco Kasper from Detroit Red Wings.
In his rookie season, great Austrian talent settled in the second Red Wings attack alongside the legendary Patrick Kane and scored a solid 37 points (19+18).
Peter Schneider and Dominic Zwerger, the most productive Austrian player at the last championship, starts at the tournament in the first attack with experienced wings.
Austria’s second attack is no less dangerous. A pair of legionnaires from the Swiss competition Vinzenz Rohrer (drafted in the 3rd round of Montreal Canadiens) and Benjamin Baumgartner (drafted in the 6th round of New Jersey Devils) is complemented by long-time team captain 38-year-old Thomas Raffl.
Although the Slovaks are pulling a line of four wins in a row, they last lost in preparation in 2023, but there is often no confrontation at the World Championship.
Against Austria, the Slovak national team played nine meetings at the World Championship. Seven of them won, twice on the opponent.
Match forecast
Direct fight to advance to the quarterfinals. Samuel Kňažko and Pavol Regenda brought a revival to the Slovak team’s game, but the second match in a short sequence can be reflected in their performance.
The task of the implementation team is to continue to look for a suitable composition of formations to handle the team with another demanding opponent.
The Austrians are determined to advance to the quarterfinals after more than 30 years since the last procedure in 1994.
