MARIÁN GÁBORÍK, hockey legend: “What he is performing at fourteen, I could not do in the best years of my career. He makes a wonderful name for Slovak hockey.”
MARIÁN HOSSA, hockey legend: “I am in awe of her. I didn’t even try similar things because I didn’t know them. It’s great that we have such talent.”
MIROSLAV ŠATAN, head of Slovak hockey: “I saw her play one game last year. In the category against boys of the same age, she turned the match around. They lost 1:7 and it ended 9:7 for Žilina, for which she played. He is a great talent. I hope there is also motivation for girls. We have few of them in Slovak hockey. Nela could be a player who would encourage other girls to choose hockey.”
ZUZANA TOMČÍKOVÁ, former best Slovak hockey player: “I haven’t seen Nela play that much, it’s hard to evaluate her performances objectively. In any case, her statistics and individual awards speak of the fact that she was already the leader of the team at the world championship at the age of fourteen. I am very happy that Slovak women’s hockey is improving and our girls are asserting themselves on the international forum. Now it will be important for her to push on and continue to improve. The positive thing is that he can appear three more times at the under-18 World Cup.”
MICHAL HANDZUŠ, hockey legend: “It’s unbelievable what she’s done. It’s no fun being fourteen at an under-eighteen event. It’s great that he can do such tricks. ‘Michigan’ did fantastic. He is at a very high skill level. I’ve always envied hockey players who made everything look so easy. That was Žigo Pálffy.’
