Sepp Puschnig

Forward Sepp Puschnig was named Ice Hockey Player of the 20th Century in Austria in 2012. He was a three-time Olympian in 1964 at Innsbruck, 1968 at Grenoble and 1976, again at Innsbruck. His team was eliminated in the first two editions during the group stage but in 1976 they finished eighth. In total, Puschnig won 123 international caps and scored 50 goals and 55 assists.

During his career Puschnig played entirely with Klagenfurter AC and helped them win the Austrian national title 12 times in 1964-74 and 1976. In 1997, one of the two ice sport halls at Klagenfurt was named after him. In 1999, he was inducted into the International Hockey Hall of Fame.

His sons Andreas and Gerhard Pusnik also became ice hockey Olympians. His brother-in-law Del Saint John was the first Austro-Canadian hockey player in the Austrian Bundesliga. Puschnig married Saint John’s sister Erika. Gerhard Puschnig was originally born with the name Pušnik but was always called Puschnig by Austrian media during his career.