Kainberger marked her debut as a head referee in the Champions Hockey League in the ZSC Lions Zurich vs. Straubing Tigers duel, which the Swiss narrowly won 3-2 with a goal from ÖEHV forward Vinzenz Rohrer to tie the score at 2-2, and is the first woman to referee a Champions Hockey League game.
On Saturday, the Salzburg player was again involved in the Champions Hockey League, and together with Finnish Mikko Kaukkari, he refereed the Geneva-Servette match against Ilves Tampere, which the Geneva team narrowly won against the Finnish club 4-3.
Last year he made his debut in the win2day ice hockey league.
Kainberger made her win2day ICE Hockey League debut on December 30, 2023. Last season, the ÖEHV and IIHF referee was the first female referee to officiate a match in the top domestic ice hockey league with HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana against Migross Supermercati Asiago. Hockey. Among other things, she also refereed the highly emotional regular season match between EC-KAC and HC Innsbruck on January 26, 2024.
She was previously the head referee for several Alpine Hockey League games.
The AHS teacher, who has competed in four World Championships for Austria as a national player, is a sought-after referee at international level. She has already served as the head referee at five IIHF Women’s World Championships, where she officiated a final, and two U18 Women’s World Championships – with two finals. She was also a line judge at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Kainberger was used in the Champions Hockey League through cooperation with the IIHF Referee Exchange Program.
“General writer. Twitter fanatic. Award-winning alcohol practitioner. Pop culture guru.”
More Stories
Why do Norway have so many sports stars?
The Graz Huskies celebrate their first win2day AWHL
New job? The former Bayern coach will likely negotiate