yesterday 17:54
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Slovakia’s under-20 hockey team is only two days away from the start of the junior championship.
Coach Ivan Feneš planned to announce the final nomination on Sunday night CET. According to him, the valuable elements of Slovakia should above all be humility, motivation and combativeness. Defender Šimon Nemec and forwards Filip Mešár and Adam Sýkora are set to assume the role of team leader. The 20-year-olds from Slovakia will have a good start to the World Cup against Finland on Tuesday 27 December at 17.00 CET.
The coach has announced that his entire squad is healthy and ready for the world championship. At the press conference before the start of the tournament, he stated that the team’s main ambition is to advance to the top eight. “There is no need to put extreme pressure on ourselves. We want to present ourselves with good hockey. The first step in our work will be to reach the quarterfinals. Then we can talk about further ambitions.” said the 45-year-old coach of the Slovak ‘twenties’, who, in his own words, expects the most balanced junior league in history.
“The top of the world is already very wide. Of course, we have the same favorites, Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland. Then there is a group of teams that can surprise everyone. The greatest values of our team should be humility , motivation, extreme fighting spirit. We want to build it on a great team” he has declared.
The team does not yet have its own unit
The trio of goalkeepers Matej Marinov, Adam Gajan and Patrik Andrisík are already certain of taking part in the World Cup. The first named, who works in the American USHL competition, has the best statistics among them. For the Fargo Force team, he has won twelve duels, while his team has not lost in any of them, and Marinov is the best goalkeeper in the whole competition.
The coaches have not yet decided who will be the unit of the team in the end: “At the moment we have three quality goalkeepers who have shown us their qualities during matches. It’s a matter of two days to decide who will start for the first match. I don’t think we should have a defined department. We would like the unit to develop over the course of four group matches.”
German: The pressure is not only on me
Šimon Nemec, the most drafted Slovakian defenseman in NHL history, knows his position on the team is significant. The player of the American club Utica Comets from the AHL has played 24 games in the current year, in which he scored 11 points (3 + 8). In the junior national team, he should get above-average minutes on ice.
“Obviously there are a lot of expectations, but I don’t feel the pressure. Maybe it comes with the first game, but there are a lot of highly selected players, so the pressure isn’t just on me.” said the second player of the last draft, which clearly outlined the ambitions of the Slovakian team: “We want to hear the national anthem after every game we play. That’s what we will focus on.”
Mešár: I am ready to be the leader
In the offensive game, striker Mešár, who, like the German, made it through the first round of the draft should be one of the standouts. The former Poprad player is working outside the Slovakian rinks for the first year and is the support of the Kitchener Rangers team, which operates in the Canadian youth competition of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He played 17 duels for the “knights” and scored 22 points (10 + 12).
“I am quite well prepared and identified with the fact that I should be the leader in attack. I think that every player in this team should realize what his role is. If we all unite, then there is a very good group of guys and can we get something” said the second Slovakian after Juraj Slafkovski, who is currently signed to Canada’s Montreal Canadiens.
Sýkora: It’s mentally demanding
Notable players include striker Adam Sýkora, but his roles are somewhat different from Mešár. The struggling Nitra striker would like to find solace in the youth national team. “It’s hard on the psyche, because we’re not doing well at the club. But I can’t prove it. It’s great to be among these guys, there’s a great group and it fills me up a lot. It doesn’t bind me and I’m happy to be able to be with that hockey family” said the hockey player from Nitra, who played 20 matches in the “Corgoňov” shirt and scored nine points (2+7).
Sýkora has already started in the elite WC, so the greatest pressure will also be on the shoulders of the energetic striker. The New York Rangers player always puts team goals first. “I have no personal ambitions for the tournament, I’m trying to help the team in the best possible way. I’m ready to do my best. I think we will achieve something that hasn’t been achieved yet.” He added.
The SR “20” schedule in WC Basic Group B (times are in CET):
Tuesday 27 December: Finland – Slovakia /17.00/
Wednesday 28 December: Slovakia – USA /22:00/
Friday 30 December: Slovakia – Latvia /17.00/
Saturday 31 December: Switzerland – Slovakia /17.00/
