At last year’s Olympics in Beijing, they won a sensational bronze, and they also left a very good impression at the last two world championships. But before that, Slovak hockey players will have problems. They will not go into Friday’s opening match with the Czech Republic in optimal condition.
Already in March, the Slovak hockey leadership decided that it would not invite players from the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) to the national team before this year’s WC in Latvia and Finland. Officially due to the peaceful progress of the preparation and one hundred percent concentration of the team.
The Slovaks thus lost the complete trio of goalkeepers Patrik Rybár, Adam Húska and Júlio Hudáček, each of whom caught at least one of the last three major events (World Cup 2021, Olympics in Beijing, World Cup 2022).
The same applies to defender Michal Čajkovský and forwards Tomáš Jurč, Michal Krištof and Adam Liška. Fullback Christián Jaroš would certainly also be an aspirant for a place in the national team, although he did not start at the mentioned events.
The fact that there will probably be a gap after these players began to show already in the preparation. Canadian coach Craig Ramsay’s men have lost five games in a row, the highlight being a 3-6 debacle on the ice of the Austrians.
The Slovak media wrote about the disastrous performance and historical humiliation.
“We got scared when we saw how they finished the fights. It wasn’t pleasant, but we should have returned it to them with the same card,” Hradec striker Oliver Okuliar assessed the surprising defeat.
“I was horrified by the lax attitude of the players, as if they came somewhere to the village with the intention of not getting hurt. The defense is creaking, and for the first time in many years I say that I am more afraid of the defense than the attack,” noted former hockey player and now TV expert Boris Valábik.
In addition, captain Martin Gernát was injured in the match against the Slovaks. However, he reported to the meeting in Bratislava on Monday and talked about the fact that it shouldn’t be anything serious, that his abdominal muscle is not torn and that he will hopefully be available as soon as possible.
Nevertheless, he was eventually dropped from the nomination. At a time when speculations surfaced about the negotiations of the thirty-year-old defender with Yaroslavl, a KHL club.
The two-time champion of the Czech extra league with Třinec, who played for the Swiss Lausanne in the last two seasons, helped the Slovaks to the first quarter-final appearance at the 2021 World Cup after eight years, and was also an important member of the bronze Olympic team.
To add to the bad news, defender Šimon Nemec was called up to the New Jersey squad after his team’s elimination from the AHL playoffs, and experienced goalkeeper Jaroslav Halák apologized to the management of the national team.
Goalkeepers who do not have any experience with top-level events among adults will be catching in Riga. Twenty-one-year-old Samuel Hlavaj from Slovan Bratislava, thirty-year-old Dominik Riečický from Mistrovské Košice and twenty-seven-year-old Stanislav Škorvánek from Michalovci.
“It’s a good business card for our league,” striker Miloš Kelemen said.
In addition to players from the domestic competition and the Czech extra league, the Slovaks have four hockey players from the AHL, two from the Swedish and one from the Swiss league.
Along with the aforementioned losses, coach Ramsay is also missing defenders Peter Čerešňák, Erik Černák and Martin Marinčin, as well as forward Marko Daňo, the best scorer in the regular season of the Czech extra league.
What will it do this time?
The Slovakians are in for a difficult start to the championship when, after Friday’s opening derby with the Czech Republic, they will face the Latvians at home on Saturday. They will also face Canada and the Swiss, weaker opponents Kazakhstan, Slovenia and Norway will only meet in the second half of the group stage.
