The Slovak under-20 hockey team had to deal with an unexpected complication during the preparation for the Junior World Championships in the USA. At the winter stadium in Bemidji, which the Slovaks use for training, the cooling of the ice surface broke down during the night.
The situation is paradoxical, as temperatures in the area are well below freezing.
“They informed us in the morning that their ice simply won’t freeze in this bitter winter. They have a problem with the technique,” explained assistant coach Ján Šimko for the hockeyslovakia.sk portal.
However, the Slovak team was able to cope with the unexpected situation quickly. The organizers provided them with a spare ice surface on which the players could complete the planned training.
“We coped with it. The organizers provided us with the opportunity to train on a different surface. On the other hand, the change of environment after the previous training block even suited us,” added Šimko.
VIDEO: Paradoxical situation in the preparation of Slovaks
They took this non-standard situation in the team in stride. “It was a special situation, but we don’t pay much attention to it. We traveled a bit on the bus in the kit, but it was fun. We enjoyed the training.
So far, it’s fun in the preparation, but we are serious in the training sessions, we work hard and try to prepare as well as possible for the tournament,” described forward Andreas Straka.
Even these unexpected technical problems did not throw off the Slovakian 20 and the preparation for the world championship continues according to plan.
“So far, we evaluate the preparation positively. We place great emphasis on our identity and the principles by which we want to present ourselves.
At the same time, we do not forget about team cohesion and we end the training sessions with emotion, the players have incorporated competitive elements,” explained Šimko.
The health status of the team is also positive news for the implementation team. “The health status of the players is optimal, so we are satisfied at the moment,” concluded assistant coach Peter Frühauf.
