That's why the Austria sensation is no coincidence

Austria has always had exceptional players. Think of Thomas Vanek, who played almost 1100 NHL games and collected over 800 points in the best league in the world. However, the Alpine republic has never been able to boast such a large number of above-average players as it currently has. That's why Austria will most likely keep the class for the third time in a row this year. Many players have not yet reached their performance limits.

Flashback: In the summer of 2014, a new, highly modern academy was opened in Salzburg. This has undoubtedly contributed to the development of Austrian ice hockey, as players like Paul Huber, Lucas Thaler and Paul Stapelfeldt come from this program. Other locations in Austria also provide excellent youth work. However, the majority of the professionals in the national team received their training abroad. Of the 25 players in the World Cup squad, 13 have gained experience abroad - most of them in Switzerland and Sweden, including Marco Rossi and Marco Kasper, who was absent in Prague.

Bright future The upswing in Austrian ice hockey can also be measured by the fact that six players have been drafted in the NHL draft in the last four years: the aforementioned Rossi and Kasper, Benajmin Baumgartner, Thimo Nickl, Vinzenz Rohrer and David Reinbacher, who is also missing in Prague. They are all just beginning their careers and will ensure that Austria will be a permanent guest in the top division - even after Russia and Belarus return.

The performance of the youth teams is also positive: the U20s and U18s each play second-class. For comparison: Italy's youth teams are represented in the third and fourth divisions. The three AlpsHL support teams (in the coming season there will only be two) play an important role. As is well known, the KAC Future Team is withdrawing.

But of course the team doesn't consist entirely of potential NHL players. Rather, it is the top performers in the ICE Hockey League who have taken a big step forward. Lukas Haudum, who has always been an exceptional player who could easily play higher, and Mario Huber lead the team's internal scorer ranking with Dominic Zwerger, who is active in Switzerland. Like Benjamin Nissner or Clemens Unterweger, Peter Schneider is an indispensable support. This shows that anyone who is a top performer in their own club can also perform well in concert with the big players. Austria completely waives dual citizenship - apart from Steven Strong, who was born in Villach.

What does that tell us? The Austrian Ice Hockey Association, which has just over 7000 registered ice hockey players, has created a system with the clubs that guarantees excellent training from an early age. The often unavoidable move abroad is thus founded on a healthy basis. In conclusion, it can be said that the fact that Austrian talent is springing up from the ground is the result of years of work. And not a coincidence.

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That's why the Austria sensation is no coincidence

Austria has been the big surprise so far at the Ice Hockey World Championships in the Czech Republic. SportNews explains in an analysis why the sensational results against the major powers Finland and Canada are not a coincidence.

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