Thomas Raffl, the next Austrian to take a Jet to the NHL?
Thomas Raffl, current member of EC Red Bull Salzburg, could follow his brother Michael to the big show. The 29-year-old forward has been invited to the Winnipeg Jets' training camp.
Thomas, the
older brother of Philadelphia Flyers’ member Michael Raffl, plays a complete game
and brings all abilities to make a name for himself also in North America. 194
cm and 106 kg make him suitable for the physical game in the world’s most prestigious
hockey league. Rumours about NHL franchises having interest in the Austrian
winger have been flying around for quite some time, but only now the camp tryout offer by Winnipeg has been confirmed. If he accepts the invitation, he will head to Canada in mid-September and try
to earn a spot in the Jets’ lineup.
Raffl, who
captained the Austrian national team at the 2015 IIHF World Championships, is a
native from the Carinthian town of Villach. If he achieves his dream, he would
be the 4th Austrian currently competing in the NHL alongside Michael Grabner
(New York Islanders), Michael Raffl (Philadelphia Flyers) and superstar Thomas
Vanek (Minnesota Wild). All-time he could become the 8th
Austrian-trained player in the National Hockey League, following in the footsteps
of Christoph Brandner, Andreas Nödl, Thomas Pöck and Reinhard Divis. Interesting
side note: Grabner and the Raffl-brothers all come from the Villacher SV junior
program.
It would not
be his first time in Canada, even though his first attempt to play overseas did
not last a whole season. At the age of 20, Raffl played 33 games in the Western
Hockey League, splitting his season between the Kelowna Rockets and the Swift
Current Broncos, before returning to Villach to win an Austrian championship.
He played for his hometown club for 3 more seasons, before a breakout season in
2009 (23 goals and 12 assists in 41 games) earned him a contract with Lulea HF
of the Swedish Elitserien.
After one
and half seasons in Scandinavia (8 goals and 9 assists in 67 games), Raffl returned
to Austria, signing with Red Bull Salzburg. During his 5 seasons in Salzburg,
he developed to become one of the league’s top players, proven by the fact that
he was top scorer of his team in all 3 injury-free seasons. He also won two
more EBEL championships with the Red Bulls, one in 2011 and his personal third
in 2015.
Thomas
Raffl is also an established player on the international level, having
represented his home country at various international tournaments, including
the Olympic Games in Sochi and two Top Division World Championships.