WJC: 2015 — Slovakia Roster Talk

[Elvs]

I interviewed Jan Sandstrom today after Lulea beat Leksand in the SHL. He is a teammate of Cehlarik and Jaros. About their bronze medal he said:

"All you can do is congratulate them. They have played well and I think a lot of people are surprised with the tournament Jaros had."

Jaros was never recalled to the SHL last year and Sandstrom thought that was the reason he went undrafted, but that he should now have increased his chances of getting drafted next summer.

Just for fun I asked Sandstrom about the WHJC in 1998 (in Finland) which he participated in.

"We lost to Switzerland in the quarter finals so it's nothing to brag about. I remember us playing Finland and the arena was full, but of course the (media) coverage around the tournament has grown much bigger".

I was surprised to hear that a WHJC tournament in 1998 that was held in Europe would fill the arena, even if it was the host country playing.

 

[smitty10]

I doubt we will ever reach the heights of the mid-2000s, when we could fill in a roster full of impact NHL players, but the situation is not as bad as I thought it would be. The fact is that we still have new players coming to the NHL and suceeding (especially Tatar, but also Jurco, Panik, Marincin, Dano) and seeing the U20 team get a medal shows that despite the conditions, there is still potential to bring up quality players in Slovakia. Winning bronze and beating Finland, Czechs and Sweden can't just be luck. I think winning a medal on the U20 level is much more difficult for a small country than doing it at the men's WHC, so this is a sign that something has been done right.

Winning at this level is definitely difficult for a small country because of the depth it requires. Slovakia is able to develop 1-3 good, NHL caliber players every two years, which keeps a steady flow of good players available for the Men's National Team. However, having only 1-3 good players in each particular WJC makes it very difficult to compete. Going forward Slovakia has a fairly impressive group of players for the Senior Team and it's for this very reason. Look at the results of the last 4 drafts for the Slovaks and you can see the steadiness of their program.

1st round:
Dano (2013)

2nd round:
Panik (2009)
Tatar (2009)
Marincin (2010)
Jurco (2011)

3rd round:
Janosik (2009)
Cehlarik (2013)

4th round:
Tvrdon (2011)
Reway (2013)

5th round:
Illo (2009)
Gernat (2011)
Paulovic (2013)

6th round:
Janus (2009)
Ceresnak (2011)
Pajpach (2014)

7th round:
Viedensky (2009)


Not a bad group if you ask me, considering this year there's a possibility of adding 3+ players to that list.

 

[Ivo]

Winning at this level is definitely difficult for a small country because of the depth it requires. Slovakia is able to develop 1-3 good, NHL caliber players every two years, which keeps a steady flow of good players available for the Men's National Team. However, having only 1-3 good players in each particular WJC makes it very difficult to compete. Going forward Slovakia has a fairly impressive group of players for the Senior Team and it's for this very reason. Look at the results of the last 4 drafts for the Slovaks and you can see the steadiness of their program.

1st round:
Dano (2013)

2nd round:
Panik (2009)
Tatar (2009)
Marincin (2010)
Jurco (2011)

3rd round:
Janosik (2009)
Cehlarik (2013)

4th round:
Tvrdon (2011)
Reway (2013)

5th round:
Illo (2009)
Gernat (2011)
Paulovic (2013)

6th round:
Janus (2009)
Ceresnak (2011)
Pajpach (2014)

7th round:
Viedensky (2009)


Not a bad group if you ask me, considering this year there's a possibility of adding 3+ players to that list.

Not a bad group, but it's still 16 players over 6 drafts. In early 2000s 10-16 Slovaks were drafted every year (though the draft went 9 rounds back then).

 

[TheKingSlayer]

Overall how does everyone think Paulovic did? He only had the one assist, but it was a beauty against Canada.

Does he have NHL potential?

IMO he looks like a fairly awkward skater, it does not look like he has adjusted to his height yet.

Thoughts?

 

[Jakk123]

Overall how does everyone think Paulovic did? He only had the one assist, but it was a beauty against Canada.

Does he have NHL potential?

IMO he looks like a fairly awkward skater, it does not look like he has adjusted to his height yet.

Thoughts?

He is way too slow. Really slow.