Kick-off on Thursday

ÖEHV team wants to fulfill its Olympic dream

The dream of participating in the Olympics for the first time since 2014 should come true.

(Bild: GEPA)

After a twelve-year break, Austria's ice hockey team wants to be back at the 2026 Olympics in Milan/Cortina. The ÖEHV team is fighting for a ticket in Bratislava and will face host and favorite Slovakia right at the start on Thursday (18:00). The other opponents are Kazakhstan (Friday/14.00) and Hungary (Sunday/14.00). Only the tournament winner is guaranteed a place at the Olympics, but second place could possibly be enough.

After the strong World Championships with sensations against Canada and Finland and two test match victories against Slovenia, the red-white-red team is entering the tournament with confidence. The World Cup brought the "realization that if everything goes perfectly, we can beat any opponent," said Bader. "We want to pull off the surprise against Slovakia and then move on. We are determined to achieve the big goal," he explained.

Marco Rossi

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

However, the Swiss will have to do without Austria's only NHL player Marco Rossi, who is preparing for the coming season in Minnesota, and captain Thomas Raffl, who is in poor health. In contrast to the World Championship, he will have two top Austrian talents at his disposal, defenseman David Reinbacher (19/Montreal Canadiens) and forward Marco Kasper (20/Detroit Red Wings), who were drafted by NHL clubs.

Both are eager for the chance to play in the Olympics. "Everyone wants to go there, it's something unique, we want to make it. If we play our game, our fast, straightforward play, our speed and our tenacity to not give up, we're certainly a very good team," said Reinbacher. "We're ready to give it our all. We're all fired up to win the next three games," said Kasper.

Hosts as top favorites
However, Slovakia are the big favorites going into the tournament. The Slovaks are regulars in the World Championship quarter-finals, are the best-ranked team in the world rankings that has to qualify and can rely on four NHL regulars alongside professionals from the top European leagues. However, team boss Craig Ramsay is missing big star Juraj Slafkovsky, who was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens as number one in 2022 and signed an eight-year contract worth 60.8 million dollars in the summer. Kazakhstan relies on players from the Russian KHL, Hungary "we know that it's always a tough game to beat them," explained Bader.

The last time Austria took part in the Olympics was in Sochi 2014, when the qualifiers took place in February and therefore without any NHL players. The final qualifying phase has now been moved to August before the start of the season so that the top nations also have their top players available. "That makes the task more challenging," said Bader.

This week, the last three fixed tickets will be awarded in three qualifying tournaments; only the winner of Bratislava can plan for the Olympics. However, the best group runner-up could still slip into the twelve-team field. At present, nine participants have been confirmed: hosts Italy, Canada, Finland, Russia, the USA, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Russia - like Belarus - has been banned by the international federation for the coming season due to the war of aggression against Ukraine; should the ban also apply to 2026, the best group runner-up will move up. The decision will be made in February 2025.