GDT: May 5 • Slovakia vs. Slovenia

[slovakiasnextone]

Just read on a Slovak site that Kopitar supposedly said on Czech TV that it was a perfectly clean hit and that it was his mistake.

 

[tobu]

Did Kopitar have the puck ? It was clear interference

He actually did, hence no interference.

 

[flemo]

Did Kopitar have the puck ? It was clear interference

You are wrong in this case.
Please see 2:35 in this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEVYjIthbTQ

Clearly Kopi was hit exactly at the time he touches the puck. No way interference. He must have been too tired already, bantam-weight Hudacek would not put him down the way he did otherwise.

In my eyes the most problematic moment was the Music penalty leading to powerplay goal. From what I can see in TV, that was really hard to see any intention there. However, ref was acting very quickly, so maybe he has seen something convincing. Or simply crowd has convinced him, that happens sometimes

Fact is, you did not lose because of refs bias. You had many very good scoring chances, but Laco had his day. Other reason was that your top lines were simply too tired in 3rd while our were quite improved after our terribly struggling captain was benched.

As it was written here before - even if we classify Music penalty as 100% wrong call, still it is only two wrong calls against you (goalie interference is the other), and one (Tatar interference) against us.

 

[Dueling Banjos]

Yeah that Music (pronounced 'Mushich', we are not talking about composed sounds here ) thing really threw us off the cliff, if you wouldn't put one behind Kristan after that, it would have been forgotten right away, it's just more brutal when chain reaction happened this way.

But again, we had scoring chances, Laco was on point and most of all, we ran out of gas, we played more or less with 3 lines, Kopi had 20mins under the belt already way before game ended.

 

[slovakiasnextone]

Yeah that Music (pronounced 'Mushich', we are not talking about composed sounds here ) thing really threw us off the cliff, if you wouldn't put one behind Kristan after that, it would have been forgotten right away, it's just more brutal when chain reaction happened this way.

But again, we had scoring chances, Laco was on point and most of all, we ran out of gas, we played more or less with 3 lines, Kopi had 20mins under the belt already way before game ended.

He already had around 20 minutes when they showed the stat pretty early in the 3rd. I think that perhaps you should go a bit lighter for your top guys in game against Denmark.

 

[ebis]

He already had around 20 minutes when they showed the stat pretty early in the 3rd. I think that perhaps you should go a bit lighter for your top guys in game against Denmark.

That's what I was thinking throughout the game. That guy seemed to play PK, PP (both units) and ******** of 5 on 5 shifts. They should go easier on him.

 

[Dueling Banjos]

We went all-in this time, there will be more rotation in next games.

 

[begbeee]

I know it´s great to defeat Slovakia for you, but I would not wreck my pretty much only world-class star player, when the odds are that games against Danemark, Belarus or Norway will matter, while these countries couldn´t match him.

 

[Faterson]

The odds were also pretty good for Slovenia to defeat Slovakia (see Sochi, see the first 2 periods last night), so I'm not surprised Kopitar played so many minutes. Overall, he had 25:29 last night (although it felt like 40 minutes, because Kopi is so prominent on the ice) , which is a lot, but it also happens in the NHL in crucial games with top offensive stars on a team (I think I've seen Ovechkin log similar minutes even in games without any overtimes). Obviously, Slovenia's game against Slovakia last night was or could have been crucial for them, if only they had defeated us. I hope Slovenia can stay in the top catagory next year, but as a long-time LA Kings fan, I also hope never to see Kopi & Gabby at this tourney again.

 

[Chara-3]

The odds were also pretty good for Slovenia to defeat Slovakia (see Sochi, see the first 2 periods last night), so I'm not surprised Kopitar played so many minutes. Overall, he had 25:29 last night (although it felt like 40 minutes, because Kopi is so prominent on the ice) , which is a lot, but it also happens in the NHL in crucial games with top offensive stars on a team (I think I've seen Ovechkin log similar minutes even in games without any overtimes). Obviously, Slovenia's game against Slovakia last night was or could have been crucial for them, if only they had defeated us. I hope Slovenia can stay in the top catagory next year, but as a long-time LA Kings fan, I also hope never to see Kopi & Gabby at this tourney again.

Huge international ice in Ostrava is much more demanding than NHL-sized one. You have to skate longer distances - no one can deny that. 25 minutes TOI equals at least 30 minutes in NHL. Kopitar was pretty much done in 3rd period.

 

[Faterson]

In that sense, Hudáček was Kopi's exact opposite, because he was benched in the 2nd period, and then jumped into play on Slovakia's 1st line. (Whereas, in exact "reverse mode", Slovak captain Kopecký started the game on the 1st line, then dropped to the 4th line in the 2nd period, and was benched in the final period.) What a crazy game. No wonder Hudáček was able to treat Kopi like a rag-doll, with all that spare energy.

 

[mattihp]

Why did Kopecký perform so badly? I trust it is not attitude problems, but maybe his extreme lack of fotspeed in combination with something else?

 

[slovakiasnextone]

Why did Kopecký perform so badly? I trust it is not attitude problems, but maybe his extreme lack of fotspeed in combination with something else?

I don't think even he himself knows the answer to that.

 

[Faterson]

It's not really a big surprise. Kopecký was a healthy scratch for the Panthers in many games this season. He played in 64 games, mostly on the 4th line, scored 2 goals (!) and 8 points (!) for the season, his worst ever in the NHL. He was also -19, which must be near the bottom of the entire NHL. But coach Vůjtek is enamoured of Kopecký, because he was outstanding in 2012 when Slovakia won silver in Vůjtek's first big event as Slovakia coach, so Vůjtek made Kopecký the captain. However, character-wise, Kopecký truly is superb, his attitude can only be called exemplary even at this painful time for him. He's a healthy scratch tonight against Norway, with Gáborík named new captain, but he may yet get to play in the tourney.

Games against Slovenia seem particularly ominous for Kopecký. Some say he's never been the same following the concussion he suffered in Sochi at the hands of a charging Slovenia player (I forget who it was). Concussion in one game, being benched in the other... Yikes.

 

[Chara-3]

Why did Kopecký perform so badly? I trust it is not attitude problems, but maybe his extreme lack of fotspeed in combination with something else?

He was put in the wrong role. He should be given 4th line time + PKs. Instead they paired him up with Gaborik and played majority of PPs.

I don't remember I've ever seen so much hate on a hockey player. Yesterday whole Slovak internet was against Kopecky. I almost feel sorry for him. He worked hard in all 3 matches, but somehow managed to screw up almost everything.

I hope they'll give him a PK role against Russia, USA and Suomi matches.

 

[Hesher]

The first two periods were eerily reminiscent of Sochi but thankfully we managed to turn it around in the 3rd. But I have to admit we got lucky with the penalty that led to our first goal and the Hudacek/Kopitar hit. The fans were once again amazing.

 

[Faterson]

And the big difference to Sochi was: Laco didn't allow any soft goal... Halák made a number of good saves in Sochi, too, but a soft goal can destroy a close game.

 

[Bober]

Just read on a Slovak site that Kopitar supposedly said on Czech TV that it was a perfectly clean hit and that it was his mistake.

Yes, he was asked about hit, but he answered as "I'm OK" health related. At day off him outiside hotel. First of all he didn't want to talk about it (One goal in never enough. It's forgotten, next games are important ...), but on the end he is said it was obviously illegal hit, but what can you do. At least referees already bite it back Slovaks. Today against Norway is our turn ;-)