Ice hockey in Austria

Ice hockey has been played in Austria for a long time. The Austrian Ice Hockey Association helps organize the sport.

The top league is called the Austrian Hockey League. It started in 1922 and is very important for the sport. There are two leagues below it: the Nationalliga and the Oberliga. These give players more chances to play.

Austria has national teams for men, women, and younger players like the junior and women's U-18 teams. They play in big international events such as the IIHF World Championships. Austria joined the IIHF, the group that runs ice hockey around the world, on March 18, 1912. This shows how long Austria has been connected to the sport.

Hockey at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

Ice hockey began in 1897. In 1900, the Training Ice Club and the Vienna Athletic Sport Club played the first official game. Teams had seven players, including a "rover," the best skater who helped in many ways.

In 1909, the first artificial ice rink opened. This helped players train better and made the sport popular in Austria, which was part of the Austro-Hungary monarchy. In 1912, the Austrian Ice Hockey Association was created and joined the International Ice Hockey Federation. Austria-Hungary could not join the 1912 European Hockey Championship in time. The next year, they joined but finished last among the four teams.

International successes after the First World War

The First World War stopped ice hockey in Austria. After the war, the sport started again in 1919. In 1921–22, Austria changed from bandy to ice hockey with the puck we use today.

The late 1920s were good years for Austrian ice hockey. In 1927, Austria won the European Championship without losing a game. In 1930, Austria beat a team from Canada with a score of 1–0. Austria won the European title again in 1931 and got third place at the World Ice Hockey Championships that same year, behind Canada and the United States. After that, Austria won silver medals at the European Championships.

World War II

Before the Second World War, Austria had ice hockey teams for everyone. Worker teams grew fast in the 1920s. In 1928, the first worker ice hockey clubs were created. These clubs were part of a group called the Association of Workers and Soldiers Sports Clubs of Austria, which later changed its name to ASKÖ.

When a political party in Austria was banned in 1934, all the worker hockey clubs were banned too. Some players joined other teams, and new clubs started. For example, a new club called Hammerbrotwerke began in December 1934. Even with these changes, many people did not notice or care much about the worker hockey teams.

German championship titles by Viennese clubs

In the late 1930s, some Austrian teams joined the German league. Two teams, EK Engelmann and the Viennese EV, won titles in that league. Ice hockey stopped during World War II. After the war, in 1945, the league started again. In 1947, a team won a bronze medal at a World Cup.

Descent into the second division

Austria had some hard times with ice hockey. In 1962, they moved down to a lower league but came back up quickly. The national team returned to compete with the best teams in 1992. Since then, the team has moved between the top and second tiers.

Teams have had money problems, especially after some big sponsors left. This made it hard for clubs to keep good players. When Red Bull began sponsoring one team, they paid very high salaries, making it hard for other teams. Many teams couldn’t grow their own young players, so they brought players from other countries. This caused disagreements among the teams. In 2009, work began to help train young players better. By the 2010–11 season, all top teams started their own junior teams and worked more closely with lower league clubs. In 2012, a junior league was created for all top teams to join.

The gap between national and national league

In recent years, the top league teams in Austria have had more money than the second division teams. Because of this, many second division teams do not want to move up. It would be too risky and expensive.

There is also a difference between the east and west parts of Austria. Most top teams are in the east. The west, especially a place called Vorarlberg, has many second division teams. These western teams like to play among themselves. Traveling to the east for games is far and hard. For many years, the second division was mostly a western competition. This changed in 2012 when two western teams joined the top league again. This caused problems for the second division, which had to be reorganised quickly that year.

National league

Main article: Austrian Hockey League

The top level of ice hockey in Austria started in the 1965–66 season, but championship games began even earlier, in 1923. The oldest and most successful team is EC KAC from Klagenfurt, with many championship wins.

The Erste Bank Ice Hockey League now includes teams from nearby countries. This has changed some rules about players from other countries. Even though some teams have money problems, the league keeps growing and is now one of the better leagues in Europe. In the 2009–10 season, lots of fans watched games, making the league one of the best in Europe. The league is also a full member of Hockey Europe.

Previous League

Main article: Austrian Hockey League

For many years, the National League was a strong league where young Austrian players learned to play. In 2009, some clubs could not stay in the league anymore. The league kept going but with fewer teams. Two teams from Styria moved down, and new teams joined later.

In 2012, two more teams moved up, and some smaller teams left. This made it hard for the league to stay strong. The league then added teams from other countries. By the 2013/14 season, teams from Italy and Slovenia joined, but the Italian teams stopped after a year. In 2016, a new league called the Alps Hockey League was created by Austria, Slovenia, and Italy.

Austria Oberliga

Main article: Austrian Oberliga

The Austria Oberliga had some hard times when teams left for other leagues. In the summer of 2009, the league grew because of problems in the National League. It became an important link between professional and amateur hockey in Austria. Teams like the former national team KSV ice hockey club and EV Aicall Zeltweg joined, which helped it become more important. Even though it was still the third highest league, it worked closely with the National League.

In 2018, a new nationwide third division called the Austrian Amateur Hockey League (ÖAHL) was created.

National team

The Austrian men's national ice hockey team has had good and bad times. In 2009, they played in the top group at the World Cup in Switzerland. This happened because Germany hosted the 2010 World Cup.

After this, the team got a new coach to help make it stronger.

The junior teams also had mixed results. The under-20 team reached the top division in 2009 but dropped back the next year. The under-18 team also had challenges and moved down a level in 2010. The women's team showed promise but didn’t reach the top level. The under-18 women's team finished near the bottom in their group. Overall, more changes are needed to improve the teams.