When compiling the list of players missing from the Slovakia squad this spring, it seems that this team is in for a very difficult tournament. Eight Slovaks played in the KHL last season, contracts in the aggressor country prevent them from participating in the national team. New York Rangers goalkeeper Jaroslav Halak refused, but the next three in order played directly in the KHL. Looking through player experiences, the goaltending line appears to be the most problematic. Yesterday against the Czech Republic, Tomislav Škorvanek, just like Dominik Riecicki and Samuel Hlavaj, plays in the Slovak championship every day and is enjoying the atmosphere of the world championship for the first time. Before the tournament itself, due to a stupid injury, Martins Gernáts, who was planned to be the leading defender, dropped out of the team after running into the open side goal in the last test match against Austria. The Czech media write that the injury is not to blame, but Gernát’s future contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Due to health problems, we will not see last year’s draft number one, forward Juraj Slafkovski of Montreal “Canadiens” in Riga. It could go on and on. If there were so many shortages in the Latvian national team, there would probably be panic among the fans. In the case of Slovakia, we can say that this championship is a story about the reserves of local hockey and the depth of the squad. It turns out that they are enough to bring a solid team to Riga, which led twice against arch-rivals Czech Republic in the first leg and came very, very close to getting at least one point.
The Slovak defense is made up of four players from the clubs of the Czech extra league, there are six such players in the Latvian national team. 20-year-old defenseman Samuels Knažko spent this season in the AHL league and also played in the first two games in the NHL, where he was a teammate of Elvya Merzlikin’s Columbus Blue Jackets. If the defense of the national teams of Latvia and Slovakia is to be placed in the weight cups, then no team will gain a significant advantage. In the offensive line, the Slovaks will have even greater masters. If we have Rudolph Balzer with NHL experience, Pavols Regenda and Miloš Kelemans played 14 games for the Slovaks, in Anaheim and Arizona, respectively, this season. Martin Hromjak had a normal season and 28 (15+13) points in the AHL, other forward Andrejs Kudrna and Libor Hudáček scored 21 and 20 goals in the Czech League. Another addition from North America, Simons Nemecs, the second pick of last year’s draft, will arrive in Riga three hours before today’s game. His addition was made possible after the New Jersey Devils pulled out of the Stanley Cup, although the German has yet to play a single game in the NHL. The 19-year-old talent played for the Utica Comets in the AHL, where he scored 12 goals in 65 matches.
Hardly anyone doubts that the teams of Canada, Czech Republic and Switzerland will enter the quarter-finals from the Riga group. Most likely, it is Latvia and Slovakia that are the main contenders for the fourth vacant ticket, therefore the second game for both teams may turn out to be decisive in the context of the entire tournament. Historically, we have played the Slovaks in all three games within the elite group of the World Championship, but the Olympic Games and test matches are a completely different story. The Slovaks have won six of the last seven meetings between them, including 6-1 in a test match in December and 5-2 at the Beijing Olympics last season. The Slovaks won the Olympic bronze then, eight medalists are also in the current Slovak national team.
Artūrs Šilovs will guard the goal of the Latvian national team tonight from the first minute. The stands will be crowded again, the spectators will push theirs forward, however, the bookmakers consider the Slovaks as slight favorites.
Latvia against Slovakia in the elite group of the World Championship
On May 10, 1997, 5:4
May 9, 2013 5:3
3:1 on May 7, 2017
The match will start at 8:20 p.m., it will be broadcast live on Channel 7 of Latvian Television.
It has already been reported that on Friday, in the first game of the championships, Latvia lost 0:6 to Canada, while the Slovaks lost 2:3 to the third Latvian opponents, the Czechs.
In the continuation of the World Championship, Latvia will meet the Czech Republic on Monday, after a day break on May 17 – with Norway, on May 19 – with Slovenia, on May 20 – with Kazakhstan, and in the final group game on May 23, they will face Switzerland.
The Latvian national team, preparing for the world championship, won and lost to Polish, Great Britain and Swiss hockey players in test matches, as well as beat Denmark away from home.
Kaspars Daugaviņš will be the captain of the Latvian national team, while Rodrigo Ābols and Roberts Bukarts will play the roles of his assistants. In this tournament, Dans Ločmelis and Tom Anderson make their debut in the Latvian national team.
There will be 22 hockey players in the application for each game, but if one of the hockey players gets injured during the championship, changes can be made in the tournament application. The management of the national team communicates with forward Teodoras Blüger and defender Kristians Rubinas, who are currently still in the season in the North American leagues.
Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, USA and Finland will compete in subgroup A, which will be played in Tampere.
Lauris Dārziņš, Artūrs Irbe, Artis Ābols, Peteri Nummelins and Raimonds Vilkoits assist the head coach Harry Vītoliņš in his work with the national team.
The 16 teams participating in the tournament are divided into two groups, with eight teams each, which guarantees seven games for each team. The top four teams in each sub-group will continue the fight for medals in the quarter-finals, but the weaker teams in both groups will leave the stronger division, and next year Poland and Great Britain will be among the top 16 instead.
Last year, the Finns won the world championships, beating Canada in the decisive match.
The World Championship, which is jointly hosted by the Finnish city of Tampere and Riga, will take place from May 12 to 28.
The composition of the Latvian national team at the world championship:
goalkeepers – Ivars Punnenovs (“Lausanne”, Switzerland), Kristers Gudlevskis (“MoDo”, Sweden), Arturs Shilov (“Canucks”, AHL);
protectors – Uvis Jānis Balinskis (“Bīlī Tygrži” of Liberec, Czech Republic), Kristaps Zīle, Ralf Freiberg, Jānis Jaks (all – Litvīnovas “Verva”, Czech Republic), Kārlis Čukste (“Ocelarži” of Tršinec, Czech Republic), Arvils Bergmanis (Alaska Fairbanks University, NCAA), Robert Mamcic (“Nove Zamky”, Slovakia), Oskars Cibulskis (Kladno “Rytīrži”, Czech Republic);
attackers – Kaspars Daugaviņš (Iserlon “Roosters”, Germany), Oskars Batņa (Mikeli “Jukurit”, Finland), Dan Ločmelis (“Lulea”, Sweden), Miks Indrašis (Schwenningen “Wild Wings”, Germany), Renārs Krastenberg (Stockholm AIK , Sweden), Mārtiņš Dzierkals (Česke Budejovice “Motor”, Czech Republic), Rihards Bukarts (Klagenfurt “EC-KAC”, Austria), Ronalds Kēniņš (“Lausanne”, Switzerland), Tom Anderson (“La Chaux-de-Fonds” , Switzerland”), Rodrigo Ābols (“Orebro”, Sweden), Roberts Bukarts (“Ridera” of Vítkovice, Czech Republic), Andris Džeriņš (“Blue Fox” of Herning, Denmark), Denis Smirnovs (“Servette” of Geneva, Switzerland), Rudolf Balzer (Syracuse Crunch, AHL).
Slovakia national team:
Goalkeepers: Samuels Hlavaj (Bratislava “Slovan”), Dominiks Rečickis (“Košice”), Stanislavs Škorvanek (“Michalovce”);
Defenders: Mário Grmans, Patrik Koch (both – Vítkovice “Ridera”, Czech Republic), František Gajdoš (“Nitra”), Adams Jánošík (“Mlada Boleslav”, Czech Republic), Michal Ivan (“Bīlī Tygrži” of Liberec, Czech Republic), Samuel Kniažko ( “Blue Jackets” of Columbus, NHL), Dāvids Mudrāks (“Zvolen”), Mislav Rosandić (“Mountfield” of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic);
Strikers: Peters Cehlārik, Marek Hrivīk (both – “Leksand”, Sweden), Andrejs Kudrna, Matuš Sukeļs (both – Litvinovas “Verva”, Czech Republic), Roberts Lantoši, Mário Lunter (both – “Mlada Boleslav”), William Czaho (“Trenčín” “), Libor Hudacek (Tršinec Ocelarži, Czech Republic), Martin Hromjak (Ontario Reign, AHL), Miloš Kelemen (Arizona Coyotes, NHL), Oliver Okuljar (Mountfield Hradeckralov, Czech Republic), Rihard Panik ( “Lausanne”, Switzerland), Pavols Regenda (Anaheim “Ducks”, NHL), Alex Tamashii (Baska Bystrica).
2023-05-13 11:15:00
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