The Slovak men's national ice hockey team is one of the major ice hockey powers in the world. As of 2008, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the world governing body of hockey, ranks them as the eighth best national team. The team is operated by the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation under general manager Peter Bondra, and head coach Ján Filc. In the last six years, Slovakia has won three medals at the World Championships, including a gold medal in 2002. Slovakia has a total of 12,375 hockey players (0.23% of its population).

History

The Slovak national team was formed following the breakup of Czechoslovakia, as the country was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For years, the Czechs kept control over how the national team was run, and even had quotas instituted to ensure a minimal participation of Slovak players on the Czechoslovakian national team. While the Czechs were allowed to compete at the highest pool (A), 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 .

In the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, the Slovak team was unable to use its NHL players in the preliminary round due to a scheduling conflict. This effected all of the smaller countries, but devastated the Slovak team as most of their players were coming from NHL teams. The NHL had decided to only allow their players to participate in the final medal round, and thus Slovakia failed to qualify finishing a disappointing 13th. This turn of events was troubling to the entire hockey community, and the rules were changed for the 2006 Winter games in Torino.

Notable Slovak national team members and current NHL players include Pavol Demitra of the Vancouver Canucks and Marián Gáborík of the New York Rangers, brothers Marián Hossa and Marcel Hossa, Miroslav Šatan, and the tallest player in NHL history, Zdeno Chára. In the late 1990s, the St. Louis Blues placed Ľuboš Bartečko, Michal Handzuš, and 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.

Olympic record

• 1994 - Finished in 6th place
• 1998 - Finished in 10th place
• 2002 - Finished in 13th place
• 2006 - Finished in 5th place

World Cup record

• 1996 - Did not qualify
• 2004 - Lost in quarter-finals

World Championship record

• 1994 - Finished in 21st place (winner of the "Pool C")
• 1995 - Finished in 13th place (winner of the "Pool B")
• 1996 - Finished in 10th place
• 1997 - Finished in 9th place
• 1998 - Finished in 7th place
• 1999 - Finished in 7th place
• 2000 - Won silver medal
• 2001 - Finished in 7th place
• 2002 - Won gold medal
• 2003 - Won bronze medal
• 2004 - Finished in 4th place
• 2005 - Finished in 5th place
• 2006 - Finished in 8th place
• 2007 - Finished in 6th place
• 2008 - Finished in 13th place
• 2009 - Finished in 10th place

World Championship 2009 Roster

Goaltenders
#	align=left	Player	Date of Birth	Club
25	Ján Lašák	April 10, 1979	Moeller Pardubice
31	Rastislav Staňa	January 10, 1980	Severstal Cherepovets
41	Jaroslav Halák	May 13, 1985	Montreal Canadiens

Defensemen
#	align=left	Player	Date of Birth	Club
6	Peter Smrek	February 16, 1979	Lasselsberger Plzeň
7	Ivan Baranka	May 19, 1985	Spartak Moscow
12	Ivan Švarný	October 31, 1984	Litvínov
15	Dominik Graňák	June 11, 1983	Färjestad
29	René Vydarený	May 6, 1981	České Budějovice
43	Jaroslav Obšut	September 3, 1976	Luleå
44	Andrej Sekera	June 8, 1986	Buffalo Sabres
48	Boris Valábik	February 14, 1986	Atlanta Thrashers

Forwards
#	align=left	Player	Date of Birth	Club
4	Jiří Bicek	December 3, 1978	EHC Biel
10	Milan Bartovič	April 9, 1981	Bílí Tygři Liberec
14	Štefan Ružička	February 17, 1985	Spartak Moscow
17	Michal Macho	January 17, 1982	MHC Martin
19	Rastislav Pavlikovský	March 2, 1977	Sibir Novosibirsk
20	Juraj Štefanka	January 28, 1976	Vítkovice
23	Ľuboš Bartečko (C)	July 14, 1976	Luleå
26	Michal Handzuš (A)	March 11, 1977	Los Angeles Kings
27	Ladislav Nagy (A)	June 1, 1979	Severstal Cherepovets
28	Peter Ölvecký	May 20, 1985	Minnesota Wild
34	Tomáš Surový	September 24, 1981	Linköping
71	Juraj Mikúš	February 22, 1987	36 Skalica
81	Marcel Hossa	October 21, 1981	Dinamo Riga
92	Branko Radivojevič	November 24, 1980	Spartak Moscow

2002 Gold Medallists

Goalies:Ján Lašák,Rastislav Staňa,Miroslav Šimonovič.

Defensemen:Jerguš Bača,Ladislav Čierny,Radoslav Hecl,Richard Lintner,Dušan Milo,Peter Smrek,Martin Štrbák,Ľubomír Višňovský.

Forwards:Ľuboš Bartečko,Peter Bondra,Michal Handzuš,Miroslav Hlinka,Ladislav Nagy,Vladimír Országh,Žigmund Pálffy,Rastislav Pavlikovský,Róbert Petrovický,Peter Pucher,Radovan Somík,Jozef Stümpel,Miroslav Šatan,Róbert Tomík,Marek Uram.

See also

• List of Slovaks in the NHL
• Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame
• History of ice hockey in Slovakia
• Czechoslovak national ice hockey team

References

• [84015] - from the National Hockey League
• [84016] - from Sports Illustrated
• [84017] - from International Ice Hockey Federation