Roger Bader has been working at the ÖEHV since 2014, came as head of training, was promoted to sports director in 2017 and previously took over the position of head coach of the senior national team at the end of 2016. He is currently one of the longest-serving team bosses in the ÖEHV.
Under his leadership, they were promoted to the top division in 2017. In 2018 in Denmark, as well as in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, they managed to stay in the top division at the respective world championships. Last year they celebrated one of the greatest successes in the association’s history by reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in over 30 years and were subsequently named Team of the Year at the LOTTERIEN-Sporthilfe Gala.
“Never change a running system,” stated ÖEHV President Klaus Hartmann. “Roger Bader has taken the national team to a new level, with a lot of passion and know-how. The successes of the last few years are historic. Roger Bader is one of the most successful coaches in the history of the ÖEHV and we are pleased to be extending our collaboration with him until 2028. In his role as sports director, he is also a competent and experienced advisor to the executive board, which highly values the collaboration with him.”
“Austrian ice hockey has made a big leap in the last ten years. My goal is to continue this development,” explains Roger Baderwho also directly defines the goals for the next two years: “We want to perform again at the next World Cup. The top priority is still staying in the league. Once we have achieved this goal, we will look to the next one. We are also aiming for successful qualification for the 2030 Olympic Games in the summer of 2028.”
In order to be able to realize these goals, the sports director and head coach emphasizes, among other things, the importance of the current league contract between ÖEHV and the win2day ICE Hockey League: “By reducing imports, young local talents will ideally receive ice time and thus the opportunity to develop. This automatically affects the youth national teams and, ideally, the senior national team. Another basis is our high-quality preparation program. That we can implement this year after year and most recently even twice in Canada I am very grateful to the Executive Board for having had Vienna as a guest. I am grateful for these opportunities and I really appreciate the cooperation and the exchange with the ÖEHV leadership.”
Preparation for the 2026 World Cup starts in April with a double against Latvia in Riga. The other opponents on the way to Zurich are Italy in Feldkirch, the Czech Republic in Vienna and Jihlava (CZE), Germany in Zell am See and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) and finally Slovenia in Klagenfurt.
At the World Cup itself in the Swiss Life Arena in Zurich, the home of Vinzenz Rohrer with the ZSC Lions, you will face Great Britain, Hungary, Latvia, Switzerland, Germany, Finland and world champion and Olympic champion USA.
eishockey.at , Image: City-Press GmbH picture agency
