Slovakia lost their final match of the 88th ice hockey world championship 2:1 to Finland. Coach Vladimír Országh’s team finished in 6th place in group A and overall in 11th place. The Slovak team finished the tournament with 2 wins, 1 over-time loss and 4 losses. They managed to score only 9 goals in the tournament.
General Manager Miroslav Šatan, called the world championship in Stockholm an investment in the future. According to him, the experience was lacking for a better result and the national team had no other option than to bet on younger players. He gave the example of forward Dalibor Dvorský, who, according to Šatan, professionally accepted the omission from the lineup and showed that he will be the leader of the national team in the future.
Their most disappointing aspect was their finishing efficiency, which was the worst of all 16 teams. Nine goals scored is the fewest by an A-team at the championship this century. "We knew that this year we were missing key players who had been the pillars of the national team in the past. We knew that we did not have the strongest composition, because there were absences for various reasons, which we understand of course. We used the vacancies that arose to give eight players the opportunity to make their debut at the World Championship. To try out how difficult it is at the international level against strong opponents, against teams that are loaded with NHL players. For them, it was a huge experience in their careers and I think that for the national team it was an investment in the future," said Šatan after Slovakia's final match against Finland.
Source: TASR
