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A few weeks ago, he was in the position of Benjamin at the senior world championships, these days 17-year-old Juraj Slafkovský is the leader of the Slovak national team under 18 at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament. And he held his position perfectly in the first match.
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He was the key man of the duel in the victory over the USA 5: 2. Almost every time he stayed on the ice, Slovakia was under attack, causing problems for the opponent and the defenders had to do something to stop him from the puck at all.
Three quick goals also helped their frustration, Slovakia already won 3: 0 in the 192nd second. In the first goal, Slafkovský scored an assistance, the third he gave himself after a fantastic action. “The best possible start. We proved that we can score goals, play in difficult situations, we confirmed everything. Just bounce back and win more matches. ” evaluated the meeting almost two-meter forward.
How did he see his wonderful goal? “It was interesting. I think one American broke his hockey stick, they shouted at him to take turns, then he came back, then another player ran into me.
I managed to pull it off, which I didn’t even believe with my own eyes and hands. I finally pushed it in. I finally started scoring goals, I have to knock, ” he also said that he had a lot of chances at the senior championship, but he failed to score.
WE WANTED TO CHARGE THEM
There is a huge self-confidence in the team, which was not even a loss of 3: 9 with Russia in the preparation, on the contrary, it helped the team. “It helped, but we were otherwise motivated by the Americans, as it is already a tournament match, not a preparatory one. From the first to the last boy, from the coaches to the custodians, everyone believed that we would win, in the end it worked out. ” expressed confidence in the cabin Slafkovský.
After a great introduction and higher leadership of Slovakia, the Americans began to play more aggressively, played fights and were more nervous. “They are known for it, when they can’t, they try to provoke. In the second period, they succeeded for a while. But we in the locker room are so advanced that we were able to find a recipe for it, ” revealed a native of Košice, who was not decided even by the opponent’s attempts at “trash talk”.
“Even though they robbed me of the puck, I tried to at least shout at them, let them be in mental discomfort. I gave it back to them, I like to provoke, I like these “trash talcs”, I like such matches. But we helped each other a lot and that’s how it should be. “
A bigger fight was born in the duel, when at the very end of the first period several players got involved. “It was all with our inverter, it just helped us. We shouted at them. We didn’t care, we wanted to recharge them. But we had to calm down a bit so that we didn’t get higher penalties, for which we can get a stop sign for the next match. We calmed it down and it turned out very well. ”
THE VIDEO WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE TIME THE FIRST FIGHT BEGINS:
SUCCESSFUL SWITCHES
Slovakia was significantly helped in the match by power play, they converted up to three out of four. All of them were successfully transformed into a goal by the Slafkov formation, where, in addition to him, there were other adepts for the first round of the next draft, Šimon Nemec and Filip Mešár, hope for draft 2023 and hat-trick shooter Dalibor Dvorský and center Peter Repčík.
“It simply came to our notice then. Every goal that fell in them was just the icing on the cake. Finally, people will have nothing to write in the comments that we do not use powerlifting, “ said a well-tuned Slafkovsky.
He liked the victory all the more sweetly because he experienced two defeats against the US selection last season. First at the U20 championship and then at the senior tournament. “This year we have been beaten twice in other tournaments, we have finally beaten them. It’s a little dream come true. “
He achieved a lot in the national team during the mentioned season. Although the men’s championships were logically more demanding, something was found that is more difficult for him in this tournament. “For seniors, the result doesn’t matter to me, there are older guys, I can only show up. Here I played a little under more pressure, even though I tried not to develop it on myself. We elders have to achieve something here, and it’s not just about being able to show up. “
Slovak team before the match.
Source: TASR
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SCOUTS AND THE GENEVA MOTOR SHOW
The prestigious Hlinka Gretzky Cup youth tournament, which takes place this year in Piešťany and Břeclav, is traditionally attended by a number of scouts from NHL teams. They are watching either already drafted or hockey players, whom they will still be able to draft. Such is Slafkovský, who, together with Simon Nemec, is predicted to be in the top ten.
“It was an extra motivation, but I personally didn’t notice it during the match and I don’t think my teammates did either. Now we mainly play team sports and everyone wanted to win against America and not show up for scouts, ” Slafkovský commented on the presence of scouts.
Nevertheless, he admitted that everyone seems to want to show something extra in front of them. He helped himself with the statement of coach Ivan Feneš, who compared the tournament to the Geneva Motor Show. “For sure. As the coach said, it is the Geneva Motor Show, every goal, every point is very good for whoever achieves it. ”
And what kind of car would it be if this tournament was a car show? “I started with Passate and maybe ended up with a sports car,” the hockey player of the Finnish TPS Turku laughed, where he will be part of the men’s team next season.
After the triumph over the USA, the Slovaks are close to bringing the national team to the semifinals for the first time since 2000. If they beat Germany today from 7 pm, they will definitely advance there. But their plans do not end there. “The goal is a medal. We have to go step by step, first the Germans, then the Swedes, I believe that this game is to achieve a proper result. ” concluded Slafkovský.
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