WC: Team Austria
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Grabner already denied an invitation. Vanek last played at a WC 2013 so I highly doubt he's available. So probably only Raffl there.
Retroglyphs
Registered User
- Mar 23, 2018
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- 307
sucks that grabner & vanek will be absent again.
well, at least raffl - he will be great for this team again.
Eye of Ra
Grandmaster General of the International boards
if austria had all their best players playing they would be strong and would suprise alot of people, something like:
Vanek - Raffl - Grabner
Zwerger - Komarek - Haudum
Setzinger - Hofer - Schneider
Raffl - Koch - Rotter
Payer - Ulmer
Heinrich - Schumnig
Unterweger - Schlacher
Starkbaum
Lange
Kickert
Vanek - Raffl - Grabner
Zwerger - Komarek - Haudum
Setzinger - Hofer - Schneider
Raffl - Koch - Rotter
Payer - Ulmer
Heinrich - Schumnig
Unterweger - Schlacher
Starkbaum
Lange
Kickert
jaro
Registered User
- Mar 31, 2018
- 310
- 164
Yes , this team would be solid and it is shame that grabner and vanek will not play becouse slovakia is just few kilometers from austria, i heard that a lot of fans will arrive to support they national team.
HungryFrank
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- Jun 20, 2015
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Few youngsters left the camp, Salzburg players joined. "NHL Raffl" will join the camp on May 1st.
Ottawa is still playing playoffs. And when they continue to play like that he won't be available for the WC.
Retroglyphs
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- Mar 23, 2018
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I like this austrian team! They were already great last year in CPH.
Roger Bader apparently does a good job there, and -despite all the limitations they have- he has been able to form a good unit.
I think they'll markedly be stronger than Italy and Norway in group B. They could even steal a point from Latvia in the opener.
Also, they have these great & loyal fans and likely will receive massive fan support in Bratislava, as Austria is <1 hour away.
Roger Bader apparently does a good job there, and -despite all the limitations they have- he has been able to form a good unit.
I think they'll markedly be stronger than Italy and Norway in group B. They could even steal a point from Latvia in the opener.
Also, they have these great & loyal fans and likely will receive massive fan support in Bratislava, as Austria is <1 hour away.
I do think we're stronger than Italy and Norway, certainly the year to beat Norway is this year.
We don't stand a chance against Latvia. Not only do they have better players, it's a game of styles. Austria is a small and quick team, a lot of pesky play, a lot of handling the puck around the perimeter. Great style against teams that also like to run and play fancy like Switzerland, we can use our speed to get in and be disruptive. Latvia is big, and long, and powerful. The only way to get goals against Latvia is to dominate the screening battle in front of the net. In order to do that you need big shots, guys who can battle in front, set screens and do other things like that. We'd need guys who can forecheck, win battles, get the puck to the point. Austria doesn't really have that. I am optimistic that we'll stay up though.
We don't stand a chance against Latvia. Not only do they have better players, it's a game of styles. Austria is a small and quick team, a lot of pesky play, a lot of handling the puck around the perimeter. Great style against teams that also like to run and play fancy like Switzerland, we can use our speed to get in and be disruptive. Latvia is big, and long, and powerful. The only way to get goals against Latvia is to dominate the screening battle in front of the net. In order to do that you need big shots, guys who can battle in front, set screens and do other things like that. We'd need guys who can forecheck, win battles, get the puck to the point. Austria doesn't really have that. I am optimistic that we'll stay up though.
HungryFrank
Registered User
- Jun 20, 2015
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Hope you are right, I feel Austria will beat Norway and then lose to Italy and somehow get relegated.
Retroglyphs
Registered User
- Mar 23, 2018
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Austria looks pretty solid this year. I expect them to beat Italy quite easily, compete with Norway, and maybe they could even upset Latvia. QF is still too high bar for them, sice the top 4 teams in the group are pretty clear (RUS, SWE, SUI, CZE), but they can easily finish 5. which would be great for them.
I disagree that it’s so clear, SWE and RUS are clear given their respective rosters, but our defence is weak as tea and who knows if we can get Pastrňák and Krejčí from Boston. Switzerland is not in full strength as well. I doubt Austria could end this high, but Latvia has very solid team this year (even better than last year when they reached QF and almost beat Sweden), if somebody is dark horse of this group, it’s them.
Retroglyphs
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- Mar 23, 2018
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I think the Czech defense looks pretty decent, definitely better than the last year in Denmark. The goaltending might be an issue, but it would be a big surprise for me if the top 4 teams were not SUI, SWE, CZE, RUS. I highly respect the Latvian team, but it would be a real surprise to me if they make the QF.
According to bookmakers, the odds on the Swiss-Latvia game are 60/40.
We beat them the last time. A real big surprise? Not really, no. It wouldn't be an upset by any means.
People tend to overestimate the differences between the nation ranked 7 (Switzerland) and those behind. Switzerland has an advantage in terms of top-players and depth over these nations, no question, but this advantage is not that big so all those games between these nations are pretty open. I'd say SWI-LAT is 55:45, SWI-AUT is 60:40 and LAT-AUT is 55:45. Something like this. Switzerland is far from set for the quarters and AUT and LAT could grab a place there, no question. Italy is probably too far away.
Let's see. This is only my prediction, the game itself can of course look very different.
It's not a 'real big surprise'. It's not a big surprise to even see a coin flip showing heads twice in a row.
A big surprise would be seeing Latvia make the semis. Not beat Switzerland for that 4th spot.
It wouldn't also be a big surprise for us to lose points against Austria.
I would think of a big surprise as being something distinct from an upset.
I don't know about you but I would be shocked.
Justshootmore
Registered User
- Mar 13, 2018
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Underwhelming game today against Denmark. 2 okay periods and one bad period result in a 1:3 loss. Many stupid penalties, bad PP and lack of finishing. With a performance like that it will be difficult to beat Italy or Norway and impossible to surprise against the others.
Will be interesting to see how they play on Tuesday against Canada.
Will be interesting to see how they play on Tuesday against Canada.
