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Slovakia
Association	Slovak Ice Hockey Federation
GM	Peter Bondra
Head coach	Ján Filc, 2008–
Assistants	Lubomir Pokovič; František Hossa
Captain	Ľuboš Bartečko
Most games	Ľubomír Sekeráš (152)1
Most points	Miroslav Šatan (101)1
IIHF ranking	8
Highest IIHF ranking	3 (2004)
Lowest IIHF ranking	8 (2008)
Home colours	Away colours
First international
	Bohemia and Moravia 12–0 Slovakia ; (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; February 1, 1940)2
Biggest win
	Slovakia 20–0 Bulgaria ; (Prievidza, Slovakia; March 18, 1994)2
Biggest defeat
	Bohemia and Moravia 12–0 Slovakia ; (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; February 1, 1940)2
IIHF World Championships
Appearances	15 (first in 1994)
Best result	(2002)
Olympics
Appearances	4 (first in 1994)
International record (W-L-T)
	216–147–49

The Slovak men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Slovakia and is controlled by the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. As of 2008, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the world governing body of hockey, ranks them as the eighth strongest national team in the world. The team's general manager is Peter Bondra and their head coach is Ján Filc. In the last six years, Slovakia has won three medals at the World Championships, including a gold medal in 2002. Slovakia has a total of 12,375 hockey players enrolled in organized ice hockey (0.23% of its population).

[edit] History

Slovakia hockey logo

The Slovak national team was formed following the breakup of Czechoslovakia, as the country was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For years, the Czechs kept control over how the national team was run, and even had quotas instituted to ensure a minimal participation of Slovak players on the Czechoslovakian national team.^{[citation needed]} While the Czechs were allowed to compete at the highest pool (A), the IIHF ruled that because fewer players of the former Czechoslovak team were Slovaks, Slovakia would be required to start international play in Pool C. However, Slovakia's play in the lower pools won it promotion to pool A by 1996. See also Post-Cold War period of the IIHF world championships .

In the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Slovak team was unable to use its National Hockey League (NHL) players in the preliminary round due to a scheduling conflict. This effected all of the smaller countries, but devastated the Slovak team as most of their players were coming from NHL teams. The NHL had decided to only allow their players to participate in the final medal round, and thus Slovakia failed to qualify finishing a disappointing 13th. This turn of events was troubling to the entire hockey community, and the rules were changed for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.

Notable Slovak national team members and current NHL players include Pavol Demitra of the Vancouver Canucks; Marián Gáborík of the New York Rangers; brothers Marián Hossa and Marcel Hossa of Dinamo Riga and the Chicago Blackhawks, respectively; Miroslav Šatan; and the tallest player in NHL history, Zdeno Chára. In the late 1990s, the St. Louis Blues placed Ľuboš Bartečko, Michal Handzuš, and Demitra on the same line. This trio became known as the "Slovak Pack," and were able to communicate in their native language without the opposition knowing what they were saying.

[edit] Olympic record

1994 – Finished in 6th place
1998 – Finished in 10th place
2002 – Finished in 13th place
2006 – Finished in 5th place (see roster)

[edit] World Cup record

1996 – Did not qualify
2004 – Lost in quarter-finals

[edit] World Championship record

Slovakia's team at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

1994 – Finished in 21st place (winner of the "Pool C")
1995 – Finished in 13th place (winner of the "Pool B")
1996 – Finished in 10th place
1997 – Finished in 9th place
1998 – Finished in 7th place
1999 – Finished in 7th place
2000 – Won silver medal
2001 – Finished in 7th place
2002 – Won gold medal
2003 – Won bronze medal
2004 – Finished in 4th place
2005 – Finished in 5th place
2006 – Finished in 8th place
2007 – Finished in 6th place
2008 – Finished in 13th place
2009 – Finished in 10th place

[edit] World Championship 2009 roster

Goaltenders
#	Player	Date of Birth	Club
25	Ján Lašák	April 10, 1979	Moeller Pardubice
31	Rastislav Staňa	January 10, 1980	Severstal Cherepovets
41	Jaroslav Halák	May 13, 1985	Montreal Canadiens

Defensemen
#	Player	Date of Birth	Club
6	Peter Smrek	February 16, 1979	Lasselsberger Plzeň
7	Ivan Baranka	May 19, 1985	Spartak Moscow
12	Ivan Švarný	October 31, 1984	Litvínov
15	Dominik Graňák	June 11, 1983	Färjestad
29	René Vydarený	May 6, 1981	České Budějovice
43	Jaroslav Obšut	September 3, 1976	Luleå
44	Andrej Sekera	June 8, 1986	Buffalo Sabres
48	Boris Valábik	February 14, 1986	Atlanta Thrashers

Forwards
#	Player	Date of Birth	Club
4	Jiří Bicek	December 3, 1978	EHC Biel
10	Milan Bartovič	April 9, 1981	Bílí Tygři Liberec
14	Štefan Ružička	February 17, 1985	Spartak Moscow
17	Michal Macho	January 17, 1982	MHC Martin
19	Rastislav Pavlikovský	March 2, 1977	Sibir Novosibirsk
20	Juraj Štefanka	January 28, 1976	Vítkovice
23	Ľuboš Bartečko (C)	July 14, 1976	Luleå
26	Michal Handzuš (A)	March 11, 1977	Los Angeles Kings
27	Ladislav Nagy (A)	June 1, 1979	Severstal Cherepovets
28	Peter Ölvecký	May 20, 1985	Minnesota Wild
34	Tomáš Surový	September 24, 1981	Linköping
71	Juraj Mikúš	February 22, 1987	36 Skalica
81	Marcel Hossa	October 21, 1981	Dinamo Riga
92	Branko Radivojevič	November 24, 1980	Spartak Moscow

[edit] 2002 gold medalists

Main article: 2002 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

Goalies

Defensemen

Forwards

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[1] - from the National Hockey League
[2] - from Sports Illustrated
[3] - from International Ice Hockey Federation

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