What a two weeks that was, eh? I apologise to my readers for the month long abscence. Partially due to writers block, partially due to a ton of work that I’ve had at the moment, but I just had to write about Team Slovakia’s performance at the Olympics. Jan Filc’s men managed to battle through to get fourth place in the tournament, their best ever finish since the independence in 1993, and a great tournament by the majority of the players involved.
I have to start with the heroes of the tournament for Slovakia, and who else to start with, but the man in goal, Jaroslav Halak. The Montreal Canadians netminder who went into the tournament with the number 1 spot in the blue and red tied down (unlike in Montreal, but that’s a story for another day). Halak was such a key figure for the Slovaks in this tournament, as he had to be. The Slovaks were always going to go into the tournament playing a trap style of hockey, and with the onus on solid defensive play, then Halak would be facing a ton of rubber in the tournament. He passed the test with flying colours, and the 24 year old from the nations capital will surely be the starter for the Canadians through the rest of the season. While he didn’t have the stats that Ryan Miller did, Halak was there to provide the strong platform that the team could then build on. With Halak now entering his prime, and will become even better, he will surely be the starting goaltender for the Slovakians for both the Winter Olympics in Sochi, and then 2018. Even though the performances of the other Jaroslav, Jaroslav Janus have been admirable this season, I just don’t see how Janus will have enough there to displace Halak from the starters position. Goaltending is certainly the position where Slovakia has looks strongest in the years to come, which is a refreshing change from the years past, where we had to rely on the performances of the great Janko Lasak to get things done in international tournaments, but the difference between the skill levels of Halak and Lasak are huge (Still, no offence to Janko. After what he did in 2002, I still consider him to be a hero)
Up there with the performances of Halak were the efforts of Slovakian stalwart Pavol Demitra. The Vancouver Canucks forward has had a torrid time of it of late, what with injuries and playing time that doesn’t do him justice. However, he passed the test for the Slovaks with flying colours, being nominated onto the IIHF Tournament First Line, along with Jonathan Toews and Zach Parise. Demitra was the epitomy of what the Slovakian team brought to these Olympics. While they were being ridiculed by many, and written off from the start, the performances of Demitra have earned him back some of the respect he earned when he was banging pucks in for the Minnesota Wild. Demitra finished the tournament with 3 goals and 7 assists in the 7 games that Slovakia played, enough for the tournament highest. Marian Hossa also had a great tournament in the Slovaks, finishing second in scoring both for Slovakia and in the overall tournament. Hossa has had a rough ride of it in a Slovakia jersey, and this tournament was no exception, but he certainly puts the points on the board when it counts.
On the defensive side of things, I have to praise the performances of all the defenceman, who logged so many minuts in their own end, trying to hold on to victories. For me, the defenceman of the tournament was Andrej Sekera. The Buffalo blue-liner logged vast amounts of minutes, and although he isn’t the offensive force that Slovakia maybe need, he played an outstanding defenisve game, and he was always there to knock the players off the puck, steal the puck away. He doesn’t lay the big hits, but he’s great positionally, and will be a stalwart in the Slovakia team in the future. I thought that Lubomir Visnovsky had a great tournament as well. Whilst his offensive numbers weren’t too impressive (2+1 in 7 games), he logged vast amounts of minutes whilst not being at the best of health during the tournament, and therefore I commend his efforts.
I’m disappointed however, to come on to my list of negatives for the tournament, and the biggest no-no for me has to be the efforts of one Martin Strbak. Selected on his blistering form for HC MVD in the KHL, Strbak is seen as a blue liner with a wicked slapshot, who can do a job defensively. Unfortunately, he did neither of them for Slovakia in the tournament. With a grand total of one assist in the tournament, and horrid defensive play, Strbak was a liability on the ice and was at fault for so many goals, (including the game winner in the Bronze Medal game). I will be most unhappy if he is on the roster for Sochi. I was also dumbfounded by the performances of Andrej Meszaros during the tournament. Whilst he hasn’t exactly been in sparkling scoring form since joining the Tampa Bay Lightning, I would have expected Meszaros to thrive on a team where he is the main offensive threat, but his passing was slapdash, and his offensive game non-existant. All too often he would get beaten too easily off of the puck, and really had a bad tournament all round. And to finish off with my list of disappointments, it has to be the top scorer in the KHL, Marcel Hossa.. Were you even at Vancouver? I would say the most anonymous man at the Olympics in a Slovakia jersey. Paired with his brother and Pavol Demitra for the first round robin games, Marcel did naff all, whilst his linemates were doing all the scoring, and this lead him to be demoted to the third line, where again, he did nothing. His sparkling goal scoring form for Dinamo Riga looked to be a complete flash in the pan after his performances in Vancouver.. No surprise he was out of the NHL as soon as he got there.
It was a tournament of great results mixed with crushing disappointment. Not disappointment that I expected to win the games, but the disappointment that the fairy tale ended in a crushing way at the hands of Canada and Finland. A feeling of that we got so far, and that we were so close to getting our first Olympic medal, and what a great achievement that would be for a country so small, and has had to look up to the Czech Republic for so long. Our wins against the likes of Russia and Sweden will not be forgotten for a long long time, and while the pain hurts for now, we can look back at pride for what the team has achieved. What gives me most pride in the Slovakian performance was that they never laid down for anyone, and fought to the bitter end. Whether it be the 3-2 loss to Canada after being down 3-0, and the never say die attitude, even when the Fins were piling in the goals in the third period. The players looked to care about the jersey that they were playing with it, and the sorrow that was on the players faces after they lost the bronze medal was really tough to see.
But to look on the positive side, with the tournament back on the international ice in Sochi, I do feel that Slovakia can replicate their achievements. The problem is that the players aren’t getting any younger. Visnovsky and Bartecko will be 37, Chara – 36, Marian – 35, and for the likes of Jozef Stumpel, Ziggy Palffy and the brilliant Miroslav Satan, that was their last crack at the Olympic games, and that’s what’s distressing me. Sochi may be the last attempt for Slovakia as a legitimate nation in the Top 7 of the world. Unless there are serious upheavals in the junior system, we could easily see a sucession of Slovakia failing to reach the quarter final stage, as at the moment the talent just isn’t coming through to replace this golden era of players, who will soon be hanging up their skates. The last great Slovakian youth product was Marian Gaborik, and he is now 28. The only Slovakian youngster that looks like he will become a legitimate NHL player will be Tomas Tatar, drafted in the second round in 2009 by the Detroit Red Wings. Other than that, there has been nothing for the past few years. There is the youth prodigy that is Patrik Koys, but a lot can happen from now until 2014, which is his draft year.
I hate to finish on such a pessimistic note, but I do fear for the future of Slovakian hockey, unless something is done right NOW about the junior system, and trying to make it so that the players such as the Hossa’s, the Demitra’s, the Gaborik’s are replaced, and that we don’t have to look in the history books to see the great days of Slovakian hockey. The team achieved a great deal of this tournament, not just in terms of getting to the Bronze Medal game, but the way that they played and acquitted themselves, and the whole of Slovakia can be proud of their boys.
So, until the World Championships in Germany..
SLOVENSKO, DO TOHO!
Have your say!