Release from 08.10.2025

Austria's national team has been named “Team of the Year” for the first time in history

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At the LOTTERIEN Sporthilfe Gala on Wednesday, the Austrian men’s national team was honored with the “Team of the Year” award. At this year’s World Championship, the ÖEHV squad – featuring 17 players from the win2day ICE Hockey League – reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 1994.

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Following their highly successful 2025 World Championship campaign in Stockholm and Herning, the team led by head coach Roger Bader received this prestigious recognition in the “Team of the Year” category. The voting was conducted by members of Sports Media Austria, the association of Austrian sports journalists.

“This is of course tied to an incredible amount of pride. A huge amount of hard work went into this over the last years from the entire team. I’m glad I can accept this wonderful award on behalf of the team. We experienced incredibly beautiful moments at the World Championship. It’s great to be able to look back on them again with such an honor,” said Dominique Heinrich, who served as assistant captain during the 2025 World Championship, where the team sensationally reached the quarterfinals.

In 2007, Thomas Vanek was named “Athlete of the Year,” but until Wednesday the national team had never received such an honor. At the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Stockholm (SWE) and Herning (DEN), the ÖEHV squad delivered outstanding performances to reach the quarterfinals. They finished eighth overall with ten points from four wins – two of them after penalty shootouts – marking Austria’s best placing in 31 years.