2023-05-07 15:37:11
Henrik Neubauer has made the leap into Austria’s World Cup squad for Tampere.
Actually, his nomination for the team camps alone was a small miracle. After all, Henrik Neubauer neither plays in a big international nor in the highest domestic league. Instead, the 26-year-old has been chasing goals for the Zeller Eisbären in the Alps Hockey League for two years.
From this league nobody usually makes it to the national team, let alone a world championship. This is exactly what Neubauer has now succeeded in doing. In five training camps and eight friendlies (with one goal and three assists) he has convinced Austria’s team manager Roger Bader that it is better to take him to the title fights in Tampere. In the last test match on Saturday once morest Slovakia, he even gave him a break. Together with NHL star Marco Rossi and Eisbullen veteran Dominique Heinrich, Neubauer watched the 3:4 defeat from the stands.
So he mightn’t do anything regarding the weak start that his colleagues made in the last World Cup test. Austria was 0:3 behind following a catastrophic first third. The team then showed fighting spirit and managed to equalize with goals from ice bulls Lucas Thaler and Mario Huber and KAC player Lukas Haudum. A second before the end, the Slovaks still fixed the home win.
Team boss Bader then announced the official World Cup squad on Sunday. In addition to Neubauer, ten Eisbullen (including the convalescent Peter Schneider) survived the final cut.
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