Game 1 – Finland vs Austria

Austria jumped all over the Fins in the first period of the game as Ross scored just 39 seconds into the game and then Bursyuk and King added goals later in the period as Austria was up 3-0. They also outshot Finland 24 to 7 in the period. Finland would not go away though as they scored the first two goals of the second period to cut the lead to 3 to 2 as Wartooth and Onoprienko netted the goals. However, bursyuk scored his second of the game to push the lead to 4 to 2 heading into the third period. Austria outshot Finland 18 to 9. In the third, Kennedy put Austria up 5 to 2 with his first before Aumeisters closed out the scoring for Finland to make the final score 5 to 3 in favor of Austria. Austria outshot Finland 11 to 7 in the period and 53 to 23 in the game. Berger made 20 saves in picking up the win. Bursyuk added an assist for a three point game while Ross had a goal and an assist. Pellegrino had 13 shots to lead Austria while vader had four hits and Hohenberg and Cahill each had two shot blocks.

Game 2 – Austria vs Finland
In the second game of the back to back against the Fins, Ross opened up the scoring again in the first period with his second of the tourney but five minutes later, Finland would tie the score on a goal by Linna as the first period ended in a 1-1 tie. Austria outshot Finland 11 to 10 in the period. The teams exchanged goals again in the second period as King scored his second for Austria and Ruutu scored the Finland goal. Austria outshot the Fins 12 to 8 in the second period as the game went into the third tied at 2-2. Kennedy scored his second goal of the tourney to put Austria up early in the period and then Wachter scored his first late in the game on the power play for a 4 to 2 Austria lead. However, Finland would score just 36 seconds later to cut the lead to 4 to 3, but would not get the tying goal as Austria held on 4 to 3. Austria outshot Finland 13 to 7 in the period and 36 to 25 in the game. Berger would make 22 saves in picking up his second win. Kennedy and Ross each had a goal and an assist to lead the Austrians. Pellegrino had 6 shots, Charlyb’y, Cahill and Wachter each had four hits and Cahill had two shot blocks to lead the team.

Game 3 – Canada vs Austria
Austria would score first for the third straight game as Kinsler got his first of the tourney but Canada would tie the game just four minutes later as Stamkos Jr got the goal and the game went into the second period tied at 1-1. Austria would outshoot Canada 18 to 5 in the period but couldn’t come away with the lead. Kinsler would get his second of the game to put Austria up 2 to 1 early in the second period, but Canada would come right back and tie it on a goal by Wert. Toward the end of the period, Stamkos Jr would give Canada a 3 to 2 lead going into the final period with his second of the game as Canada outshot Austria 9 to 7 in that period. With about eight minutes left in the game, Bursyuk would tie the game for Austria at 3-3 with his third of the tourney, but just three minutes later and on the power play, Canada would get the game winning goal off of the stick of boychuk as the final score was 4 to 3 in favor of Canada. Canada would crush Austria in shots 23 to 10 in the period and outshoot Austria 37 to 35 in the game. Berger made 33 saves in taking the loss. Kinsler had two goals and Pellegrino had two assists while bursyuk led the team in shots with 7, Wachter had 8 hits and three players each had two shot blocks a piece.

Game 4 – Austria vs Canada
All of the scoring from this game came in the first period and both goals came off of the sticks of Austrians as Malkin scored his first of the tourney with about 6 minutes left in the period and then Charlyb’y scored just two minutes later as the final score of the game was 2 to 0. Canada did outshoot Austria 26 to 24, but berger was big in net stopping all 26 shots he faced. Bursyuk led the team in shots with 5 while Wachter had two hits and Malkin had three shot blocks.

Game 5 – Austria vs UK
For the first time in the tourney, Austria gave up the first goal as Windsor scored early in the game on the power play, but Austria would tie it late in the period with a power play goal of their own off of the stick of Pellegrino, his first of the tourney. The UK would outshoot Austria 10 to 6 in the period. The UK broke the game open in the second period by outscoring Austria 3 to 0 – Silverwing got the first goal and the third goal while Burch scored the second. Austria would actually outshoot the UK 12 to 9 in the period. Renninger would push the UK lead to 5 to 1 with a goal just over two minutes into the third period, but Kinsler would get one back just two minutes later to make it 5 to 2 with his third of the tourney. Both teams would add one more goal each as Pedersen scored for the UK and King for Austria to make the final score 6 to 3. The UK would outshoot Austria 12 to 10 in the period and 31 to 28 in the game. Berger made 14 saves on 18 shots before being pulled for St. Pierre who stopped 11 of 13 shots. Kinsler and King each had a goal and an assist while Vader had two assists in the loss.

Game 6 – Austria vs Sweden
The teams would combine for five goals in the first period as Austria would get the first and last, but Sweden would score three straight in the middle. Wachter scored his second of the tourney for Austria first, but then Sweden got goals from Karlsson, Benson and Rudd before Charlyb’y netted his second for Austria with just six seconds left in the period. Sweden outshot Austria 12 to 6 in the period. Kinsler would tie the game at 3-3 just 10 seconds into the second period with his 4th of the tourney as neither country would score the rest of the second period or third period as the game went into overtime. Austria outshot Sweden in both periods as well – 16 to 2 in the second and 12 to 9 in the third. Both teams only got one shot in overtime and neither would score as the game went into a shootout. Both first shooters were stopped. Austria’s second shooter was stopped and then Eriksson scored for Sweden while Austria’s last shooter did not score and Sweden won the game 4 to 3 in a shootout. Berger made 21 saves as his record fell to 3-2-1 in the tourney. Wachter had a goal and an assist in the loss for Austria.

Game 7 – Sweden vs Austria
In the return match, neither team scored in the first period as Austria outshot Sweden 7 to 5. Austria would score the only goal of the second period as Pomery netted his first of the tourney to give Austria a 1-0 lead. Sweden would outshoot Austria 8 to 7 in the second period. Austria would add to their lead with the first two goals of the third period as Kennedy scored his third and then with about ten minutes left in the game, Pellegrino added his second. Sweden would get one goal back, but it would be the last goal of the game as Lloren scored to make the final score 3 to 1 in favor of Austria. Sweden would outshoot Austria 13 to 4 in the third period and 26 to 18 in the game. Berger made 25 saves in picking up his 4th win of the season. Pellegrino had a goal and an assist while Wachter chipped in with two assists in the win.

Game 8 – UK vs Austria
Tsujimoto scored the only goal of the first period as the UK took a 1-0 lead into the second period as they also outshot the Austrians 9 to 5 in the period. The UK would add the first two goals of the second period as Leclerc scored and then Burch shortly before the halfway point of the second period. Kennedy would score just 24 seconds after the last UK goal to cut it their lead to 3 to 1. It was his fourth of the tourney. Pellegrino scored his third late in the second period as Austria cut the UK lead to just one at 3 to 2 going into the final period. The UK outshot the Austrians 13 to 5 in that period. Even though Austria outshot the UK 8 to 4 in the final period, neither team was able to score as the UK hung on for a 3 to 2 win and outshot the Austrians 26 to 18 in the process. Berger made 23 saves as his record fell to 4-3-1 in the tourney.

Game 9 – Austria vs Latvia
The two countries exchanged goals within two minutes of each other in the first period as Austria scored first on a goal by Wachter, his third, and then Latvia got a goal from Pettyfer to tie it. Austria outshot Latvia 7 to 6 in the first period. Pomery would score the only goal of the second period to give Austria a 2 to 1 lead heading into the third period. It was his second goal of the tourney and Austria outshot the Latvians 12 to 5 in the period. Austria would get a power play chance about halfway through the third period and Flamel would cash in with his first of the tourney to make it a 3 to 1 lead. However, Latvia would close to within one with about five minutes left in the game as Sarone score, but the Austrians would not let in another goal and hold on for a one goal win at 3 to 2 and clinch a spot in the medal rounds. Austria would outshoot Latvia 26 to 19 in the game as Berger picked up his 5th win by making 17 saves. Wachter had a goal and an assist in the win while Kinsler had two assists.

Game 10 – Latvia vs Austria
Latvia would jump out to a quick start in the first period with two goals just 40 seconds apart as Daugavins and Hamilton scored to make it 2 to 0. Those would be the only two goals of the first period as Latvia outshot Austria 14 to 5. Austria would get a power play chance shortly after the halfway point of the second period and King would score his 4th to cut the lead to 2 to 1. However, Latvia would get a late power play chance themselves in the second period and Johnson would score his 3rd to put Latvia back up by a two goal margin at 3 to 1. Austria would outshoot Latvia 16 to 7 in the second period but still couldn’t close the gap to less than two goals heading into the third period. Austria could only muster 6 shots in the third period to Latvia’s 5 and neither country would score as Latvia held on for the 3 to 1 win even though they were outshot by Austria 27 to 26. Berger made 23 saves as his record was 5-4-1 in the round robin portion of the tourney.

Kinsler, Pellegrino and Vader each had nine points to lead Austria in the tournament. Kinsler, King and Kennedy each had four goals to lead their country while Vader had nine assists. Berger went 5-4-1 with a 2.68 GAA, .896 save percentage and one shutout in goal.

Medal Round Matchup -- #4 Austria vs #1 Germany

With a loss in their last round robin game, Austria dropped to 4th in their group and had to face off against the #1 Germans from the other group.
The first period was very defensive and boring to be quite honest as the teams combined for just seven shots on goal – four by Germany and three by Austria, but neither team was able to score in the period. Austria even had a power play chance in the period but could not score. Much of the same in the second period but with a little more shots as Germany had 9 shots on goal while Austria had 8, but once again neither country could score as the game went into the third period tied at 0-0. Germany did have a power play chance in the second but did not score either. Vader took an interference call early in the third period and Scholz would cash in on the power play just over two minutes into the period to give Germany a 1-0 lead. Austria did outshoot Germany 11 to 8 in the period, but the Germans added a late empty net goal to seal the deal and win the matchup 2 to 0 en route to their gold medal. Berger made 19 saves on 20 shots, but Haas was just one better with the shutout.

From their performance in the round robin and then losing to Germany in the first round of the medal round, Austria was able to move up 4 spots in the world rankings from #11 overall to #7 as they passed up countries like Norway, Canada, Finland and the Czechs.

S33 season recap for SMJHL’ers playing for Austria:

Sepp Reiter – Halifax Raiders – Reiter had a huge season for the Raiders as he led the team in goals with 28, assists with 32 and points with 60. He was also a +20 with 18 penalty minutes, 43 hits, 221 shots, 13 shot blocks and a 12.7% shooting percentage while averaging just over 23 minutes per game. His goals and points were also tops in the SMJHL. He helped to lead Halifax to a first place finish in their conference in the the SMJHL.

S33 season recap for SHL’ers playing for Austria:

Maximillian Wachter – Buffalo Stampede – Wachter scored 11 goals and had 31 assists for 42 points to rank third on the Stampede and helped to lead them to their first ever playoff birth since they came into the SHL. He was a -2 on the season with 82 penalty minutes, 186 hits, 191 shots, 17 shot blocks and a 6% shooting percentage. He played over 23 minutes per game and saw action on both the power play and penalty killing units. He had three game winning goals and averaged .72 points per 20 minutes while being named a top 3 star of the game 9 times through the course of the season.

Hunky Monkey – Calgary Dragons – Monkey continued his improved play over the course of the previous season as he scored two goals and had three assists for five points while playing about 10 minutes game on the blue line for the dragons. He was a +4 with 18 penalty minutes, 35 hits, 5 shots and 23 shot blocks. He had a shooting percentage of 40%!!. He did not see anytime on the power play and saw very little action on the penalty kill. One of his two goals was also a game winning goal.

Ryan Vas – Edmonton Blizzard – Vas was traded from the New England organization to Edmonton and in his rookie season with the Blizzard, Vas delivered 5 goals and 11 assists for 16 points from the blueline as he was the 4th highest scoring dman on the team. He was a +1 with 22 penalty minutes, 63 hits, 46 shots and 50 shot blocks. He played nearly 23 minutes per game in a top 4 role for the blizzard. He also had a shooting percentage around 11%. He also did play a lot of power play time and did see some penalty killing time as well even though Edmonton did not take a lot of penalties. Vas did have one game winning goal as well.

Jon Ross – Hamilton Steelhawks – In his second season in the SHL, Ross scored 11 goals, had 27 assists and 38 points for Hamilton. His 27 assists were tops on the team and his 38 points placed him second. He was a -4 with 34 penalty minutes, 39 hits, 136 shots, 6 shot blocks and played about 22 minutes per game. He had a shooting percentage of 8% and played a ton of power play time while seeing some action as a penalty killer. He had two game winning goals, won about 49% of his face offs as the number one center for the Steelhawks and was named a top 3 star of the game 5 times.

Brennan Kennedy – Hamilton Steelhawks – Also in his second season in the SHL, Kennedy played on the third and fourth lines for Hamilton and had 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points while seeing just over 21 minutes per game. He was a -4 on the season with 42 penalty minutes, 101 hits, 127 shots and 5 shot blocks with a 12% shooting percentage. He also played significant time on the power play for Hamilton while seeing a little bit of penalty killing duties. He did also have 2 game winning goals and a game tying goal while being named a top 3 star 7 times during the course of the season.

Marc-Andre Malkin – Los Angeles Panthers (now of Portland) – Malkin had a nice campaign for the Panthers as he scored 10 goals from the blueline which was tops among Panther defensemen and had 27 assists for 37 points which was also second among dmen on the Panthers. He was a +13 while taking only 5 minutes in penalties which was a fight none the less. He only dished out 3 hits while taking 94 shots and had 56 shot blocks. He nearly had a shooting percentage of 11% on the season. Six of his goals came on the power play which led the Panthers and was also a key penalty killer. He only had one game winning goal and was named a top 3 star just twice on the season. As of this writing, he was recently traded to Portland after signing a two year, 10 million dollar contract with the Panthers. Los Angeles not only got one first rounder back for him, but two.

Johnny Cahill – Los Angeles Panthers – Another defensemen for the Panthers, Cahill registered one goal and 21 assists for 22 points on the season to go along with an even plus/minus rating. He had 77 penalty minutes, 99 hits, just 9 shots on goal and 75 shot blocks in just under 21 minutes per game. He did not see any power play time but logged a decent amount of penalty killing time. His one goal was also a game winning goal and earned three top 3 stars of the game.

Cara Hohenberg – New England Wolfpack – In her rookie season, Hohenberg had 4 goals and 15 assists for 19 points and a real nice +17 on the season. She did show a little physical play with 40 hits and had 26 shot blocks in just about 16 minutes per game. She fired 39 shots on goal and had a shooting percentage just over 10%. She also only had 12 penalty minutes and although she did not see any penalty killing time, she did record three points on the power play in limited action. 2 out of her 4 goals were game winning goals, so when she scored, she made them count and earned three top 3 stars of the game.

Pavel Bursyuk – Seattle Riot – Pavel scored 15 goals and had 15 assists for 30 points for the Riot which placed him in a tie for 4th overall on the team. He was a +6 on the season with 18 penalty minutes, 21 hits, 144 shots, 9 shot blocks and had a shooting percentage just over 10% on the season. He still played about 20 minutes per game on the season. He did play on both special team units as he had 3 points on the power play and recorded one assist in a penalty killing role. He had one game winning goal and three game tying goals and was named a top 3 star of the game six times during the season.

Lord Vader – Texas Renegades – Vader enjoyed his best offensive season as a SHL professional even though he was built as a defensive dman with a 39 point performance which was third highest on the Renegades. His 37 assists led the Renegades as well. He also added two goals on the season. He was a +5 to lead texas and his 112 penalty minutes were also tops on the team. He dished out 140 hits which was second highest and took 56 shots. His 80 blocked shots also led Texas as he averaged close to 25 minutes per game. He played a significant role on the power play unit and had 9 assists on the power play while almost half of his shots came with the man advantage. He also played a big role on the penalty killing units as well. He was named the top three players of the game three times during the course of the season. Vader just resigned a 4 year, 20 million dollar deal with Texas after using his player option to stay with the team.

Liam Kinsler – Texas Renegades – Kinsler was 6th on the team in points with 33 on 17 goals and 16 assists. His 17 goals ranked him third on the Renegades. He was just a -3 on the season with 24 penalty minutes, 66 hits, 166 shots and 13 shot blocks. He averaged just over 21 minutes per game. He also did see a lot of power play and penalty killing action. His goals were very clutch on the season as he had 5 game winning goals and 4 game tying goals and was named the top 3 player of the game 7 times during the season. He still saw first line action during the season but played more wing this season as he has played in the past.

Alexander Charlyb’y – Texas Renegades – Alexander still played an active role on the Renegades as a third line center and contributed 4 goals and 8 assists for 12 points. He was a -5 on the season with 27 penalty minutes, 65 hits, 48 shots and 6 shot blocks in just under 15 minutes per game. He received very little time on the power play and penalty killing units. He has always made a name for himself in the faceoff circle and this season was no different as he won nearly 55% of the 800 faceoffs he took during the season.

Nicholas Flamel – Toronto North Stars – Flamel played second and fourth line duties for the North Stars this past season and had 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points in just under 19 minutes per game. He was also a -10 on the season with 16 penalty minutes, 33 hits, 85 shots and 3 blocked shots. 7 out of his 16 points came on the power play though and two of his goals were game winners.

Alex Light – West Kendall Platoon – In his rookie season with the Platoon, Light played nearly 19 minutes per game on the third and fourth lines and had 9 goals and 7 assists for 16 points. He was a -5 on the season with 15 penalty minutes, 31 hits, 113 shots and 2 shot blocks. He had a shooting percentage of just under 8%. 4 out of his 16 points came on the power play but he did not see much penalty killing time in his first season. He did have three game winning goals and one game tying goal and was named the number one star of the game three times and the third star once. He is going to bring some much needed scoring to Austrians with his updated stats.

Don Pellegrino – Winnipeg Jets – Pellegrino was third on the Jets this season with 47 points while tying for the team lead with 22 goals. He also had 25 assists while being a -8 on the season in nearly 23 minutes per game. He had 67 hits, 186 shots, 5 shot blocks and a shooting percentage just under 12% for the Jets. Only 7 of his points came on the power play and he did not play on the penalty killing units. Three of his goals were game winners while he had one game tying goal and he was named a top 3 player of the game 10 times during the season.

Lukas Berger – Winnipeg Jets – last and certainly not least in the player recaps, is Jets and all-time best Austrian goalie ever, Lukas Berger. Berger had a regular season record of 25-16-3 on the season with a 3.00 GAA and a save percentage of .895. He did record one shutout on the season and even had four penalty minutes. He was a top 3 player of the game 6 times during the season and had a penalty shot save percentage of just over 82%. He faced the 7th most shots in the league while playing the second most minutes out of any goalie.