Paul Huber: From Salzburg champion to key player in Graz!

Paul Huber: From Salzburg champion to key player in Graz!

Paul Huber, 24 years old and 1.95 meters tall, made the move from Red Bull Salzburg to the Graz 99ers in the summer of 2024. Loud laola1.at Huber was looking for a new challenge after his development stagnated in Salzburg. Before his move, Huber became his team's fourth-best scorer in the 2024 season, scoring 20 goals and thus playing a significant role in Salzburg's success. His departure marks the first departure of reigning champions Red Bull Salzburg, who also had to painfully come to terms with the defeat against Black Wings Linz in the quarter-finals of the win2day ICE Hockey League.

Huber made it clear that the decision to move to Graz was important for him in order to take on a larger role in the national team. He particularly wants to take over the position of Thomas Raffl on the power play, from whom he has learned a lot, especially when it comes to playing style and puck protection. “I see this season as positive despite the elimination,” said Huber, who firmly believes that defeats advance him both as a player and as a person. He has won three championship titles in Salzburg and is proud to be part of the Austrian national team, for which he has never dropped out. Huber will play his 60th game in the ÖEHV uniform in the upcoming test matches against Hungary and is aiming for his fourth participation in an A World Cup.

Successes and challenges

The player can look back on an impressive career, which was shaped by his successes in Salzburg. Nevertheless, last season was a hard-fought battle for the Graz 99ers. Despite a 3-1 series lead in the quarterfinals, they lost their last three games in overtime. Huber and his teammate want to learn from these experiences and further develop their style of play. Loud salzburg24.at Philipp Pinter, sports director of the Graz 99ers, described Huber as an “absolute dream player”, which underlines the high importance of the player for the Graz team.

For Austria, the upcoming A-World Cup is synonymous with a test, as the team aims to stay in the league with a simple style of play. Huber emphasizes the importance of taking points from every game and not falling into a passive style of play in order to remain competitive at the top international level. The history of Austrian ice hockey impressively documents the constant development of the national team, which has fought for the honor of asserting itself on the world stage since its beginnings in the 1930s and has had to go through ups and downs - the recent success story points to a positive future in which Huber could play a decisive role.