Considering that modern Greeks are Slavs too, yes that makes sense.
Anyway, let's get back to the thread topic before I start another round of Greek-Macedonian cross-border sniping.
NHL players of Yugoslavian descent
- Thread starter crobro
- Start date
Considering that modern Greeks are Slavs too, yes that makes sense.
Anyway, let's get back to the thread topic before I start another round of Greek-Macedonian cross-border sniping.
jekoh
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- Jun 8, 2004
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Yes he is, a Canadian citizen (Slovenian as well for that matter) of Slovene ancestry, and no one is forcing him to choose who he wants to play for. Besides, I doubt anyone from Slovenia even contacted him and personally I doubt he will ever play with the same NT as Kopitar, Muršak etc.
jekoh
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Both his ancestry and who he wants to play for are completely irrelevant, as they should be.
National teams are not meant for players who learnt their hockey abroad and never even played in the country. The IIHF rule is fine, in that it opens the door for players who want it bad enough to actually play in the country for a few season, while blocking players who merely happen to have a citizenship by accident.
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Actually he and members of his family hold Slovene citizenship for quite some time now. People of Slovene expatriate abroad can get it at any time if they want it, so its not like he was given the passport 'by accident' in hopes that he will switch national team allegiance in the future. Like I said, I doubt anyone from the Slovene hockey federation even contacted him about the matter nor is it discussed in the media here.
mattihp
Registered User
I wonder if it only applies to dual citizens... I have lived in Sweden all my life but I have never held swedish citizenship. If by some freak accident (like a radio active Ovechkin biting me) I turn into an awesome hockey player... Do I have to play in the SM-liiga for two years to be eligable for the finnish national team even if I've never held any other citizenship than my finnish one?
jekoh
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No, Mestis will do
Yes it only applies to dual citizens. See Kölzig, who was allowed to play for Germany for the sole reason that he never had any other citizenship. Surely it's fair that he is at least allowed somewhere. Had he taken Can or US citizenship, he would have been ineligible for Germany.
Interestingly, had he received South African citizenship at birth, along with his German citizenship, he would not technically have been eligible for any country (though probably he would have been allowed a dispensation).
jekoh
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That does not really change anything, now does it? His citizenship status is accidental in that it is completely unrelated to the context of ice hockey national teams and national programs, which international competitions are all about.
I think it's an american / canadian phenom (well, I'm sure there are other countries) that you automatically are the nationality from the country you're born in.
For example. Mark Hardy is mentioned in the record books as the beste Swiss NHL Player ever (statistically) because he was born in Switzerland. Yet nobody in Switzerland knows that guy and he doens't even have Swiss citizenship, they just go by birthplace in the record books.
jekoh
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While this is true, it is not very relevant here. Stajan could have been born in Jesenice and he would still be ineligible for Slovenia all the same (and I would still describe him as being "from Canada").
Heatley or Nolan are also Canadian despite the fact that they were born abroad. Similarily Goran Bezina is Swiss despite being born in Split, and the same goes for Sbisa and many others, so being of the nationality of the country you grew up in is obviously very common outside NA, even in Switzerland of all places.
SerbianNightmare
Registered User
IIHF rules suck they should apply the same rules FIFA uses, it would go a long way in helping hockey grow in places like Serbia, Croatia etc...
Sorry if i am dumb now but how come that a player like Kalle Torniainen that plays and have lived all his life in Sweden can play for the finnish national team. Does this rule that you have to play atleast 3 years in an country to play for there national team only apply for seniors?. So Kalle in the future can't play for Finland if he doesn't move to and plays for an finnish team?
slovakiasnextone
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The rule only applies to double citizens playing in official IIHF sanctioned events- which pretty much means only Olympics and all levels of IHWC, WJC and U18 IHWC.
It doesn´t matter in the "friendly" tournaments that the various junior teams play during the season.
If Kalle has both Finnish and Swedish citizenship then he can´t play for Finland in U18 WHC/WJC/IHWC/Olympics unless he plays those 3 years in Finland.
However I´m not sure whether he has double citizenship and if he only has the Finnish one then the rule doens´t apply to him and he can play for Finland even though he hasn´t played a single season in a Finnish league.
jekoh
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That's pretty naive. Bringing in foreigners from Canada to the national team has never helped hockey grow. Britain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, they've all tried it and it certainly never helped them in he long run, rather to the contrary.
SerbianNightmare
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I'm not a rocket scientist or anything but I'm pretty sure that having an NHL star like Milan Lucic playing for Serbia would get the sport more exposure and help it grow in the country.
mattihp
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Even if he is, I doubt he would have been able to since Serbia plays their competitive games in Division I, II or III usually during the NHL regular season or in the first round of playoffs.
jekoh
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It is very doubtful it would get hockey more exposure, Lukic is certainly not a "star" in Serbia.
ozo
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mattihp
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He has to get out of the NHL to play in a league based in Serbia first, which is what I meant.
not necessarily pertaining to players but I notice sites like sportnet.hr cover American sports very well and there are many discussions about the NFL and NHL on their forums, pretty interesting.
They do a decent job covering both the NFL and NHL right now, not as extensive as here of course but they give the scores and short game details
I watched the Medvescak game against KAC, pretty good game, it was obvious KAC had the better induvidual players but the game was very exciting with Medvescak killing a two minute 5-on-3 at the end of the 3rd period
They do a decent job covering both the NFL and NHL right now, not as extensive as here of course but they give the scores and short game details
I watched the Medvescak game against KAC, pretty good game, it was obvious KAC had the better induvidual players but the game was very exciting with Medvescak killing a two minute 5-on-3 at the end of the 3rd period
crobro
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100% sure they are croatian:
J. Sakic
F. Mahovlich
P. Mahovlich
J. Kordic
D. Kordic
J. Cattarinich (in HOF as a builder, and first Habs goalie in history)
M-E Vlasic
C. Sarich
W. Mitchell
Marty Pavelich
A. Sertich
M. Sertich
P. Oreskovic
V. Oreskovich
N. Drazenovic
T. Zanonski
G. Bezina
J. Filewich
J. Prpich
Mark Pavelich
Mark Fistric
100% sure they are serbian:
M. Lucic
B. Radivojević
J. Sakic
F. Mahovlich
P. Mahovlich
J. Kordic
D. Kordic
J. Cattarinich (in HOF as a builder, and first Habs goalie in history)
M-E Vlasic
C. Sarich
W. Mitchell
Marty Pavelich
A. Sertich
M. Sertich
P. Oreskovic
V. Oreskovich
N. Drazenovic
T. Zanonski
G. Bezina
J. Filewich
J. Prpich
Mark Pavelich
Mark Fistric
100% sure they are serbian:
M. Lucic
B. Radivojević
mattihp
Registered User
Lucic is canadian and Radivojević is slovakian, so no dice
They are most certainly of Serbian descent though.
