Thomas Raffl (born 19 June 1986) is an Austrian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

winger who is currently playing with

EC Red Bull Salzburg EC Red Bull Salzburg is a professional ice hockey team based in Salzburg, Austria, that currently plays in the ICE Hockey League. The club play their home games at the Eisarena Salzburg. History The history of ice hockey in Salzburg at the h ...

of the

ICE Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...

(ICEHL). He previously played for

Luleå HF Luleå Hockeyförening is an ice hockey club from Luleå, Sweden. The club has been playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top tier of ice hockey in Sweden, since the 1984–85 season. They are the northernmost team in the league an ...

of the Swedish Hockey League. He is the older brother of

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

player Michael Raffl. His father

Peter Raffl Peter Raffl (born 2 February 1960) is a former Austrian ice hockey player and coach. He competed in the men's tournaments at the 1984 Winter Olympics and the 1988 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 57 , athletes = 1,423 (1,122 men, 301 wome ...

also played ice hockey.

Playing career

Raffl briefly played major junior hockey in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

with the

Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The Rockets play in the Western Hockey League (WHL), out of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). They play their home games at Prospera Place. The R ...

and Swift Current Broncos of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

during the 2005–06 season. Since 2007, Raffl has been a fixture participant with the Austrian national team, including at the

2015 IIHF World Championship The 2015 IIHF World Championship was the 79th event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), held from 1–17 May 2015 in Prague and Ostrava, Czech Republic. It broke the historical attendance record of IIHF World Championships ...

. In the lead up to the 2015–16 season, Raffl was granted leave by Salzburg on 1 September 2015, to attend the preseason training camp of the NHL's

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

on a professional tryout contract. Following the training camp, Raffl signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Jets and was assigned to the

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and a member of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre, the home arena of its parent club, Winnipeg Jets o ...

, the Jets'

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

affiliate. During the 2015–16 season with the Moose, Raffl was unable to maintain his offensive presence, producing just 5 goals in 31 games. Unable to earn a recall to the NHL, at the conclusion of the season, Raffl was not tendered a contract by the Jets and was released to free agency. On 11 July 2016, Raffl returned to Salzburg of the EBEL, signing a one-year deal.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1986 births Austrian ice hockey left wingers Des Moines Buccaneers players EC Red Bull Salzburg players EC VSV players Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Kelowna Rockets players Living people Luleå HF players Manitoba Moose players Olympic ice hockey players of Austria Sportspeople from Villach Swift Current Broncos players {{Austria-icehockey-bio-stub