“Craig Ramsay on Coaching Slovak Hockey Players for the World Championship in Latvia”

Of the many situations that speak about what a person is like, we will mention a recent one.

Dominik Riečický comes to the national team meeting with his thoughts focused on fighting for the chance of a lifetime – to play in the world championship.

Hanging from his goalie gear, he struggles at the narrow entrance to the hall, but suddenly Craig Ramsay approaches him.

Read more Slovaks were united by a Canadian. Ramsay’s successor? The most serious candidate is Országh, says Valábik

She smiles and willingly takes a large bag of hockey sticks from him.

The Canadian coach, who will lead the Slovak hockey players to the WC in Latvia and Finland, lives with the team body and soul. The Slovaks under his leadership start in Riga on Friday, they will challenge the Czechs in the derby.

The team has had an unsuccessful preparation for the championship. How do you rate it?

First of all, the match against Austria didn’t work out for us. To get six goals from an opponent of that rank is a lot. We wanted to use our speed, but we couldn’t. We didn’t play as a team, that can’t happen to us in the championship.

VIDEO: Coach Craig Ramsay on the contribution of young players at the World Cup in Latvia.

Is it better to get slapped with a result in preparation than in important matches at the World Cup?

It is said, but it is not always true. The preparation is specific. We tried different players in different positions. The result is not always the most important thing. The performance showed us where we have reserves. We will work on it and we will be ready in Riga.

It will be your fifth championship on the Slovak circuit. What was the hardest thing to teach the players when you started?

So that they don’t back down in front of their opponents for no reason and don’t play it safe at all costs. There are moments when guys still tend to show bad habits, it happens that we see four players skating back.

But we don’t want that in our game. We want to attack, forecheck, attack the opponent’s players and fight for every puck. I had to convince the players that this was the right way.

Photo: TASR, Pavel Neubauer

SR Hockey SZĽH Šatan Ramsay TK BAX Close colleagues – Craig Ramsay and head of Slovak hockey Miroslav Šatan.

Did they surprise you in any way?

In sacrifice. I thought they would not throw themselves into shots, defend the puck with their own bodies. I was wrong. The match against Russia at the Olympics in Pyeongchang is etched in my memory.

In the end, we lost by a goal, the opponent had incredible pressure. But the guys threw themselves into shots and helped the goalkeeper a lot. They did everything to win the match, they showed great effort.

The Slovaks have always had top strikers, stars from the NHL, but they have not always worked as a team. Do you consider your greatest contribution to have taught them to play collectively?

Yes, my colleagues and I did it. One of the initial problems also related to the fact that if the team conceded, it quickly lost its morale. Players have learned that they are capable of turnover. That even if we lose, the match can be turned around. We just have to continue with the things we agreed on. Don’t go back to old habits. Play as a team, support each other.

We also showed it in Beijing. With a lot of fighting, we equalized against the Americans in the quarter-finals and then beat them on raids. A fantastic team performance was also the basis for the bronze medal match. We didn’t let the Swedes do anything, we dominated. Not as individuals, but as a team.