Nela Lopušanová, a fourteen-year-old from Slovakia, who captured the attention of the under-18 girls’ WC with her extraordinary skills, won over the hockey world. Hilary Knight, one of the biggest hockey stars, even noticed her trick against the young Swedes on Twitter. She only managed one emoticon.
It is probably premature to evaluate a person at the age of fourteen, but I guess we can already say about Lopušanová that she is growing into a great hockey player. She was also able to do it during the championship, when she sometimes drew the selection of girls four years older.
One would think that such a championship is beyond the reach of the mainstream. Well, maybe it is, but Lopušanová made it a big hit with her pieces. She is also noticed by Canadian television stations, for example, TSN, which on the web has distorted her name to Lopusansanova.
The overseas media reminds us of one more thing – no 14-year-old hockey player has ever scored a goal in the under-18 championships.
Her nine points surpassed even John Tavares and is behind only Connor Bedard, who scored more as a U16 player at the World Cup at the age of eighteen.
After the match with Sweden, Mladá Lopušanová was put in front of the IIHF microphone – her teammate Lily Sternová acted as her interpreter. “I don’t even know, I try it in training and in matches and it works for me. It’s so normal for me,” she said about the great trick that bears the name of Michigan in the hockey world.
The reporter then reminded her that she was the first woman ever to use this beautiful trick at the World Cup. “It’s very cool, I’m glad it could have been me. It is a great honor,” she added.
