Metropole - October 2017

W

hile famous as a win-

ter sports power-

house, Austria’s rela-

tionship to Eishockey

can be somewhat un-

derwhelming. While still reasonably pop-

ular – it’s second only to skiing and team

football – surrounding countries like

Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland and

Croatia show far more enthusiasm, head-

ing to the rink as Austrians head to the

slopes. In fact, requiring a prefix to distin-

guish the sport from its field cousin just

shows that Eishockey doesn’t get any-

where near the attention is gets in Canada,

where “hockey” can mean only one thing.

Austria’s national leagues are doing

their best to raise hockey’s domestic popu-

larity. The country’s top-tier league, the

Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL), fea-

tures 12 teams including four from neigh-

boring countries – from Znojmo, Czechia;

Zagreb, Croatia; South Tyrolean Bolzano;

and Székesfehérvár, Hungary – and is rep-

resented locally by the Vienna Capitals.

Since their founding in 2001, the “Caps”

have perennially ranked at the top of the

league with half their current 23-man ros-

ter made up of Austrian natives. The rest

are North American imports, including

goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux or

their top scorer Riley Holzapfel, as well as

head coach and former NHL-player Serge

Aubin, whose leadership in his debut sea-

son last year resulted in the team’s second

EBEL championship.

The sport’s early days in Austria are leg-

endary. The first national hockey federa-

tion (ÖEHV) was founded in 1912, and

Team Austria played in its first European

championship tournament a year later.

After being interrupted by WWI (and

the dissolution of the empire), a much

smaller Austria won its first European

championship in 1927, tallied its second

in 1931 and grabbed medals in world

championship competition between

1931-33. Perhaps most impressive, Aus-

tria was the only European team to snatch

a single-game victory over the ever

dominant Canada in 1930.

After WWII however, Austrian hockey

has struggled to maintain top-tier status

internationally while developing local tal-

ent. While Austria’s national squad occa-

sionally rises to the highest echelons (qual-

ifying for the 2014 Winter Olympics), it

doesn’t pose a credible threat in

inter national competition.

There are only three Austrians (Thomas

Vanek of the Vancouver Canucks, Michael

Grabner of the New York Rangers and Mi-

chael Raffl of the Philadelphia Flyers)

competing professionally at the sport’s

highest level, in the North American Na-

tional Hockey League (NHL). Fewer than

10,000 Austrian men, women and young-

sters are ÖEHV-registered hockey players

• a mere 0.11% of the population, com-
  pared to over 1% of all Czechs and nearly
  2% of Canadians.

WILLING AND EBEL

You wouldn’t be able to tell that from the

crowd in the Albert Schultz Eishalle in the

22nd district, a 7,000- spectator arena

near the Vienna International School and

home rink of the Capitals. It’s often filled to

“Europeans have their steady chants, while in North America,

fans wait for something to happen and then cheer loudly.

Both are exciting but create a different atmosphere.”

Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, goalie, Vienna Capitals

The Vienna Capitals are currently dominating the

12-team Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (Ice Hockey

League), nabbing the championship last season

and enjoying an ongoing 14-win streak.

Below: Austria was a hockey powerhouse in the

1920s and 1930s, winning two European

championships, placing high in tournaments and

even beating Canada.

PHOTOS FROM LEFT: GERT EGGENBERGER / APA / PICTUREDESK.COM, COURTESY ÖEHV, LEO VYMLATIL/VIENNA CAPITALS