TROY, N.Y. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey assistant coach Mathias Lange ’09 will serve a similar role for his native Austria in the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championships, it has been announced. The 46th edition of the tournament, which was postponed earlier in the year, will take place from August 9-20 in Edmonton, Alberta.
Lange, who is from Klagenfurt, Austria, has been a part of the Rensselaer coaching staff since 2019-20, when he became the team’s operations coordinator. He was then elevated to assistant coach in 2021 and is responsible for the team’s penalty kill, while also working with goaltenders and recruiting.
Before returning to Troy, Lange enjoyed a 10-year professional playing career as a goaltender in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga and DEL2. In 172 career games in the top flight with DEG Metro Stars and Iserlohn Roosters, he posted a 77-78 record with a 2.83 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.
Lange played 108 games for the Engineers from 2005-09, posting a record of 29-57-17 with a 2.95 goals against average and an .898 save percentage. He had two shutouts in 6196:39 minutes.
Prior to attending RPI, Lange was a part of an Austrian Juniors team that finished third at the 2002 Junior A Nationals and was a six-time Austrian Junior Hockey National Champion. The starting goalie for Austria at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Finland, he helped the club win the gold medal in 2003 World Junior Championship Pool B in Slovenia.
Lange helped the Austrian National Team qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia and earned the win in his only start of the tournament, making 34 saves in a 3-1 victory over Norway.
Austria opens tournament play on August 10 against rival Germany, before taking on Sweden on August 12. They face the United States the following day and then wrap up pool play against Switzerland on August 15.
(RPI Men’s Hockey Photo)
