Slovakia men's national ice hockey team


The Slovak men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Slovakia and is controlled by the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world. The team's general manager is Miroslav Šatan and their head coach is Craig Ramsay.
Slovakia has won four medals at the World Championships, including a gold medal in 2002 in Sweden. In the Winter Olympic Games, Slovakia's highest achievement is 4th place in Vancouver 2010. In the tournament they won against favourites Russia and Sweden, and lost against Canada in the semi-finals and against Finland in the bronze medal game.

History

The Slovak national team was formed following the breakup of Czechoslovakia, as the country was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. While the Czechs were allowed to compete at the highest pool, the IIHF ruled that because fewer players of the former Czechoslovak team were Slovaks, Slovakia would be required to start international play in Pool C. However, Slovakia's play in the lower pools won it promotion to pool A by 1996. See also Post-Cold War period of the IIHF world championships.
Slovakia's first appearance in an elite ice hockey competition was at 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. With a lineup led by star Peter Šťastný, the Slovaks finished first in their group with three wins and two ties before losing to Russia in overtime in the quarterfinals. In the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano and the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, the Slovak team was unable to use its National Hockey League players in the preliminary round due to a scheduling conflict. This affected all of the smaller countries, but devastated the Slovaks as most of their best players were from NHL teams. The NHL only shut down its schedule in time for the second group stage, and thus Slovakia failed to qualify among the final eight teams both times. This turn of events was troubling to the entire hockey community, and the rules were changed for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.
Slovak national team members and notable players have included Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Marián Hossa, Marián Gáborík],Marcel Hossa; Miroslav Šatan; goaltender Jaroslav Halák and the tallest player in NHL history, Zdeno Chára. In the late 1990s, the St. Louis Blues placed Ľuboš Bartečko, Michal Handzuš, and Pavol Demitra on the same line. This trio became known as the "Slovak Pack," and were able to communicate in their native language without the opposition knowing what they were saying, unless, of course, they also understood Slovak.
Following the successful years for the Slovaks in the early 2000s at the World Championship, when they won the silver in St. Petersburg at the 2000 edition after a loss to the Czechs, winning the only title in Goteburg at the 2002 edition and securing bronze in Helsinki, the results of Slovakia worsened and Slovakia began to drop out in the quarterfinals. The closest Slovakia came to relegation into Division I was in 2008, when they avoided relegation only thanks to two victories over Slovenia in the Relegation Round. Following was a series of three subsequent eliminations in the Qualifying Round, including one at a 2011 edition Slovakia hosted in Bratislava and Košice for the first time, since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
Largely unexpected, however, was Slovakia's silver medal at the 2012 edition, again won in Helsinki. This was the first tournament after the introduction of the new two group format, followed by the quarterfinals. Due to the surprise this medal was after number of unsuccessful tournaments, it was by many regarded as with a value of a triumphal gold. In the following years however, Slovakia again failed to repeat medal successes and even failed to qualify to the quarterfinals, with the exception of 2013.

Tournament record

Olympic Games

World Championship

Lower divisions

Top division

World Cup

At the 2016 edition, Slovakia was not represented. Instead 6 Slovak players were a part of Team Europe, which was led by Slovak general manager Miroslav Šatan.

[Deutschland Cup]

2001–2004SP 2004200520062007–2008

2009–20132014–2017ZOH 20182019–present

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2019 IIHF World Championship.
Head coach: Craig Ramsay
No.Pos.NameHeightWeightBirthdateTeam
1GMarek Čiliak HC Kometa Brno
2DAndrej Sekera – C Dallas Stars
6DMartin Fehérváry Hershey Bears
12FDávid Bondra Kunlun Red Star
13FMichal Krištof Oulun Kärpät
14FRichard Pánik Washington Capitals
16FRóbert Lantoši Providence Bruins
17FDávid Buc HC Slovan Bratislava
19FMatúš Sukeľ HC Sparta Prague
23FAdam Liška Severstal Cherepovets
24FTomáš Zigo HC '05 Banská Bystrica
27FLadislav Nagy – A HC Košice
28FMarian Studenič Binghamton Devils
30GDenis Godla HC Kladno
42GPatrik Rybár Oulun Kärpät
47FMário Lunter HC '05 Banská Bystrica
52DMartin Marinčin Toronto Maple Leafs
56FMarko Daňo Columbus Blue Jackets
64DPatrik Koch HC Košice
65DMichal Čajkovský HC Dynamo Moscow
71DMarek Ďaloga Mora IK
79FLibor Hudáček HC Bílí Tygři Liberec
81DErik Černák Tampa Bay Lightning
83DChristián Jaroš Ottawa Senators
90FTomáš Tatar – A Montreal Canadiens

2002 World Championship: Gold winning roster

2012 World Championship

Player statistics

Source:
Players in bold are still active.
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; GPG = Goal per game;
#PlayerGPG
1.Miroslav Šatan18386
2.Martin Štrbák16213
3.Ľubomír Sekeráš15229
4.Dominik Graňák1508
5.Peter Pucher14423
6.Ľubomír Višňovský14118
7.Tomáš Starosta1375
8.Richard Kapuš13616
9.Stanislav Jasečko1289
10.Branko Radivojevič12421

#PlayerGPGGPG
1.Miroslav Šatan18386.48
2.Ľubomír Kolník10959.54
3.Jozef Daňo11745.38
4.Ján Pardavý12045.38
5.Vlastimil Plavucha11944.37
6.Marián Hossa8839.44
7.Žigmund Pálffy7437.50
8.Branislav Jánoš11737.32
9.Peter Bondra4735.74
10.Zdeno Cíger10834.31

Head coaches

This table shows all Slovakia national team head coaches and their record at the IIHF World Championships, World Cup of Hockey and Winter Olympic Games. Data as of 13 April 2019
Source:
NameYears
Július Šupler1993–1996291605171609255.21.31
Jozef Golonka1996–1997830104202337.50.88
Ján Šterbák1997–19991650407444631.30.88
Ján Filc1999–2002291613091067558.61.24
František Hossa2002–2006382405181336863.21.39
Ján Filc2004400004418.0000.00
Július Šupler2006–20081251–06423550.01.42
Ján Filc2008–20101342–25344246.21.38
Glen Hanlon2010–20111240–08293433.31.00
Vladimír Vůjtek2011–201536142–515949944.41.42
Zdeno Cíger2015–20171422–28275128.60.86
Craig Ramsay2017–29112–313847644.81.28

Team managers

recipient Juraj Okoličány managed the team from 1993 to 1998.

Retired numbers

The following table shows Slovakia's international record from 1940 to 1945 and since 1993, correct as of 21 May 2019. Teams in italics are no longer actively competing.
Source:
OpponentPlayedWonDrawnLostGFGAGD
36282614459+85
34201139567+28
Bucharest110020+2
1100200+20
5223425166156+10
110061+5
6514744135222−87
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia1001012−12
1914057537+38
35732567111−44
Finland olympic100123−1
33243614261+81
6032127148135+13
4400276+21
86025019+31
1813147543+32
55003912+27
97114215+27
110021+1
2817389362+31
2200244+20
32232711560+55
86114316+27
4400393+36
381052391122−31
Olympic Athletes from Russia110032+1
B52031515+1
1310034923+26
6928734166152+14
B1010110
381032584127−43
Sweden Vikings200258−3
109104918+31
28103156591−26
Wiener EG100102−2
110041+3
Total6663344928220831666+417