A year later, the Slovakian national team still managed to get bronze, but later the decline of this country’s hockey began. A big exception was the silver won at the 2012 championship, but in the last 10 years, Slovaks have managed to get out of the subgroup and play in the quarterfinals only once.
In recent years, it can be concluded that things are being done in the right direction in Slovakian hockey – in the 2022 NHL draft, the first two numbers went to the young talents of Slovakia, Juraj Slafkovskis was drafted with the 1st number, and Simons Nemecs as the second defenseman.
The results of Slovakia’s youth teams have also improved, but for example eight young hockey players were drafted in the 2023 NHL draft.
It is interesting that this year the general manager of the Slovakia national team is the legendary one Miroslav Shatanwho plans to bring a fairly strong team to the Czech Republic, but a Canadian specialist has been at the helm of the team for the last five years Craig Ramsey.
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“We are looking forward to the players from abroad. We expect that with their arrival we will become more experienced and both the quality and competition within the team will grow. We hope that the guys have rested after a difficult regular season in the NHL and will be ready to help us,” says Peter Fruhauf, Slovakia’s assistant head coach.
From the currently announced squad, seven players have NHL records, the already mentioned Montreal Canadiens, one of the leaders of the attack, Slafkovskis, the German playing for the Devils, as well as a number of other hockey players, veterans Tomas Tatars, inclusive. Overall, a very solid line-up, but the Slovaks have had world championships where strong hockey players have gathered, but this has not been reflected in powerful performances.
in the ranks of “Canadiens”. Slafkovsky Collected 50 points (20+30) in 82 matches.
Slovakia also has Peter Cehlárikwho in 2022 scored a “hat-trick” for the Latvian national team in a test tournament, but finished this season in the “Leksands IF” unit of the Swedish hockey league (52 matches, 19+20).
A large number of Slovakian hockey players play in the Czech league on a daily basis, which is an indicator of quality. Three goalkeepers are also known and the best known to us is Stanislavs Shkorvanek (HK “Dukla”).
It is interesting that this year too the game against Slovakia will be very principled and important for the Latvian national team, it will take place in the late evening of May 19. Of course, the Slovakian national team’s ambitions this year will be higher than the group tournament, but will they be able to realize them? The attacking talent is certainly there, but what about the goaltending?
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