The Slovaks defied the odds by defeating Sweden to win the first Olympic hockey medal in their history, bronze, Saturday in Beijing.
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The Slovak victory of 4 to 0, recorded following two goals in an empty net, had echoes even in the locker room of the Montreal Canadiens.
Interim head coach Martin St-Louis congratulated Craig Ramsay, who was at the helm of the Slovak team during the Olympic tournament. The two men notably won the Stanley Cup together with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004, when Ramsay was assistant coach John Tortorella.
“It’s quite an accomplishment for Slovakia and for ‘Rammer’,” reacted St-Louis. Craig is a very smart man who played in the NHL, he taught me a lot of defensive details, how to put the stick in front of the puck. I liked having all his advice because of his intelligence. I’m glad he’s still involved in hockey and achieving a special feat like getting a medal [olympique] to Slovakia.
After Germany in 2018 at the Pyeongchang Games, Slovakia will therefore have been the new “Cinderella team” of this Olympic tournament. Four years ago, without NHL players, as was the case in Beijing, the Germans had won the silver medal after being defeated in the final by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).
For Slovakia, which made its debut in 1994 at the Lillehammer Games after Czechoslovakia broke up, this is a moment for the history books. The best result in the country was a fourth place finish 12 years ago in Vancouver.
Slafkovsky shined again
This edition of Slovakia seemed destined for great things since they surprised the hockey world by beating the United States in the quarter-finals.
Striker Juraj Slafkovsky, who enjoyed an impressive tournament, played heroes once again by scoring two goals against the Swedes. The 17-year-old athlete opened the scoring in the second period before adding it in an empty net. Author of seven goals in seven games in Beijing, the name of Slafkovsky will undoubtedly be talked about in the months to come, he who is eligible for the next NHL draft.
Samuel Takac and Pavol Regenda (empty net) also shook the ropes in this match for the bronze medal. Goalkeeper Patrik Rybar offered himself a shutout of 28 saves. The Finns, who had beaten the Slovaks in the semi-finals, were to face the ROC for the gold medal, on the night of Saturday to Sunday (Quebec time).
(With the collaboration of Benoît Rioux)