Austria faces back-to-back survival showdowns against France and Belarus on Friday and Saturday in Copenhagen while Korea is the promoted and still winless
team in the other group in Herning. Success would represent the first time a newly-promoted nation escaped relegation since 2008, and would finally get the Austrians off an elevator it has travelled since 2005. That up-and-down existence has seen the team win six promotions from Division I but endure immediate returns on the previous five occasions.

Along the way, there's been some serious heartache: in 2009 the Austrians finished ahead of Germany in the relegation round, but went down because the Germans were due to host the 2010 edition. Then in 2015, only one result - France beating Latvia after a tie in regulation - would generate a three-way tie that would demote Austria. Latvia went 2-0 up, but the French recovered with goals from Stephane da Costa and Sacha Treille to tie the game and claim the win in a shootout.

But survival is possible for newly-promoted teams. Since Austria began its rollercoaster sequence back in 2005, the likes of Norway, Germany and France have moved up and established themselves as regulars in the top tier. Here's how they did it.

Norway, 2006

It's important to pick your battles. How often do we see a rank outsider earn enormous respect - but no tournament points - by fighting to a standstill against a stacked roster from Russia, Sweden, Canada or Finland, only to struggle in more winnable games against lesser-ranked teams? That was what cost
the Austrians in 2015, when they took just one point from games against France and Latvia, but had overtime wins over Switzerland and Germany.

Norway's class of 2006 did not fall into that trap. The team played six games in Riga and lost five of them. In the first group phase, a respectable 3-1 loss
to the USA was followed by a 7-1 blow- out against Canada. But, when it came to
the crunch, Roy Johanson got the win he needed against Denmark to take third place in Group D and avoid the relegation round. In the qualifying round, Norway lost all three games against Latvia, Finland and the Czech Republic, but
the job was done.

The Denmark game was a thriller. A first-period riddled with penalties saw Mats
Trygg put Norway ahead on the power play in the 17th minute. It wasn't long before Mads Hansen found himself in the box, though, and Morten Green tied it up for Denmark. Then a 5-on-3 power play saw the Danes snatched the lead a second before the intermission.

In the middle frame, Norway took control with three unanswered goals - all of them on the power play. Mads Hansen, Per-Age Skroder and Patrick Thoresen found
the net, Tore Vikingstad moved on to three assists for the game. Marius Holtet
made it 5-2 with the only 5-on-5 goal of the game and Vikingstad's empty-netter
rendered Jannik Hansen's marker largely irrelevant. Norway won 6-3 and has remained in the top division ever since; names like Thoresen, Trygg, Morten Ask, Jonas Holos and Anders Bastiansen would go on to make many repeat appearances at the World Championship.

Denmark survived the relegation round. So did Italy, making 2006 the last year that both promoted nations remained in the top division.

Germany, 2007

Like Austria, Germany suffered relegation in 2005. Like Austria, it won promotion right back to the top tier. Unlike its neighbour, Germany found a way
to survive in Russia.

In the Preliminary Group stage, the Germans got a win against Norway to claim third place in the group and avoid the relegation round. With the pressure off,
things got even better: a shock 2-0 win over the Czech Republic and a 6-5 thriller against Belarus opened up a path to the last eight and only the bonus point that the Czechs secured in an overtime loss against Canada denied Germany. In the end, the Germans just missed out, but a ninth place ‘best of
the rest' finish was no mean feat for a promoted team.

The 2007 tournament marked the debut of Michael Wolf, who led the scoring with 5+3=8 points. Wolf would go on to represent Germany in seven World Championships and the 2010 Olympics. Michael Hackert was another World Championship rookie who scored heavily, collecting seven points in Russia. And a solitary appearance from future Olympic silver medallist Yannic Seidenberg marked his debut in the Elite Pool.

Germany has never looked back, even if it caught a break in 2009 when it would have gone down had it not been scheduled to host the following year's tournament. For Austria, meanwhile, an overtime loss against Norway in the relegation round proved decisive. It was back to Division I.

France, 2008

The old relegation round format at World Championships was ended in 2012. Not many mourned its passing: the odd combination of high stakes and low crowds made the games an odd way of deciding the destiny of the four teams that finished bottom of the preliminary groups.

In its defence, the old system did offer a second chance for the strugglers - and in 2008 France seized the opportunity and began an on-going spell of top-flight hockey. The tournament did not begin well. Drawn in Group A, the French were rock bottom. A 9-0 shellacking against Sweden was the low point as Les Bleus managed just two goals in three games.

Redemption came against Italy. A nervy 3-2 win put the French ahead in the best-of-three series, then a 6-4 success clinched survival. It was anxious - and not for the last time - but France battled through both games to send the Italians down.

The French team featured a young Pierre-Eduard Bellemare, currently on NHL playoff duty with Vegas and later to be a Team Europe representative at the World Cup. Sacha Treille and Kevin Hecquefeuille are still playing for France in this year's competition. But the key scorers were Yorick Treille, Baptiste Amar and Sebastien Bordeleau, whose scoring form in the relegation round kept France in the top tier.

ANDY POTTS

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