Samuel Hlavaj: The Youngest Slovak Goalkeeper Rookie Competing for Position in the World Championships

The 21-year-old Martinský native is traveling to his premier senior world championships, but he does not yet know whether he will be in the position of one, two, or three in our goal area. The battle for the post of the goalkeeping unit is still open.

The unending battle of the debuting competitors

Not one of the three extra-league men in masks, who traveled yesterday with our team to the championship in Riga, has not yet caught the rank of the World Championships or the Winter Olympics at a major event. Dominik Riečický from Košice, Stanislav Škorvánek from Michaloviec and Samuel Hlavaj from Slovan Bratislava imitate the trio of Miroslav Šimonovič, Igor Murín and Rastislav Rovnianek. The aforementioned trio was the last to travel to the championship and was nominated by the teams of our highest competition. It happened back in 1999.

In the preliminary matches, none of the current adepts for the post of the goalkeeping unit were convincing. Even their teammates in front of them did not help them in individual meetings. In the defensive activity, the Slovaks made too many mistakes in the eight preparatory duels and often offered the opponents a numerical advantage. However, all goalkeepers also conceded several goals that they could have prevented.

“As a team, we had both good and bad matches. I don’t think our performances were as bad as the results suggest,” concluded Samuel Hlavaj even before the flight to Riga.

The battle for the most prominent position between the three poles is thus still open. “I would say that in the whole preparation it was balanced between us. All three of us had better and worse moments. However, it is still not determined between us who will be the clear unit,” said the Martin schoolboy, who is fighting for the best possible position in the Slovak team.

National goalkeeper coach Peter Kosa has a difficult task. He has to decide which of the trio of goalkeeper rookies he will give a chance as a unit in tomorrow’s opening match of Slovakia against the Czech Republic. Samuel Hlavaj (in the background) is one of the adepts.

Source: TASR

„I think it’s better not knowing which one of us will catch first than having a clear unit between us. We fight with each other even more in training, we are each other’s competitors. However, everything is within the norm, we support each other and do not do anything on purpose. The day before the first match, however, we will find out who will be in goal. Until then, everything is open.” Hlavaj added.

In the season, the young goalkeeper of the Whites made a double for the Canadian unit Jared Coreau. He caught nineteen games, including one in the playoffs, for the reserve Blue Wings in the Slovak Hockey League, he started six games and also one in the elimination part. He made his debut in the national team last December at the Christmas Kaufland Cup in Bratislava. In Slovan’s home arena, he immediately scored a clean sheet in a clear 6-0 victory over Norway.

“It’s a beautiful feeling, I didn’t even dream of such a debut. It was a tough match. In the first period, the Norwegians had only two shots, it was difficult for me to get into it. After that it was fine,” Hlavaj said then. Since then, he appeared in Slovakia’s goal three more times. Most recently, in last week’s 3:6 loss in Austria, he substituted in the second period after the fourth conceded goal by Stanislav Škorvánek.

The national team goalkeeper coach Peter Kosa currently has a very difficult task, who to send to the opening match against the Czech Republic. Hlavaj also perceives it. “We are all from the extra league, none of us has much experience. But maybe it’s even better. We are hungry for hockey, each one of us wants to catch and show that we have what it takes. It is also possible that all three of us will win the championship. Everything is possible.”