Slovaks of the NHL (July 1st update)

[PhysicalGraffiti]

Was going to post in here, but it was awesome to see the Devils first game or two where they had 3 Slovaks dressed at once with Jaros, Studenic, and Tatar. I don't know the last time, or if that has ever happened before.

As an Isles fan I'm disappointed Panik isn't with the big team, but they've been playing pretty bad lately so maybe they'll bring him up and put him in for a spark? Maybe wishful thinking.

 

[Elvs]

Was going to post in here, but it was awesome to see the Devils first game or two where they had 3 Slovaks dressed at once with Jaros, Studenic, and Tatar. I don't know the last time, or if that has ever happened before.

Actually, it was only a few years ago when Boston had Chara, Halak and Peter Cehlarik. Back in the early 2000's, when Slovakia had around 30 NHL players, it must surely have happened a few times. Off the top of my head, the Kings had all of Visnovsky, Palffy and Stumpel at the same time for a few seasons. But yeah, today, it's pretty much unheard of. Hopefully Studenic will be called up again and Jaros gets more playing time.

 

[Elvs]

We love Fehervary here in Washington, expect good things from him now and in the future. We affectionately call him "Feverbaby" or "Fever" for short. He's already helped transform the Caps blue line.

Just keep him away from Crosby!

Two assists tonight

 

[Antiillafire]

Milos Kelemen and Pavol Regenda have signed entry level contracts. Samuel Bucek is rumoured to as well. Longshot they become nhl players but I think the outlook of Slovak hockey is better than it was 5 years ago

 

[glovesave_35]

I think the Slovakians in general might have benefited from being part of Czechoslovakia (In sports I'm talking). The best player drafted since the year 2000 is Tomas Tatar, let that sink in for a bit.

Oddly enough, my wife's cousin is married to a Slovakian woman, and this past week I spoke to one of her relatives in a birthday party who is a big hockey fan. He mentioned that there's some serious corruption in Slovakian hockey at the moment. He said that a lot of players come from rich families and they're paying their way to the top. Not sure how accurate that is, but sounded interesting nevertheless.

When you say "since 2000" are you not including Marian Gaborik?

 

[BlueBaron]

Interesting read Op. Always nice to see what is going on in other Hockey countries. Let's hope in a few years they are back to producing more NHL players we can steal from them

 

[Fixxer]

If Slakovsky can have a big impact on his nation, if he becomes as good as some people project him to be. Projected, so not the player he is today, but the player he is expected to become.

 

[SuperScript29]

When you say "since 2000" are you not including Marian Gaborik?

I said "since 2000" for a reason, Gaborik was drafted that year and since then, the Slovaks have been very bad.

 

[Faterson]

I said "since 2000" for a reason, Gaborik was drafted that year and since then, the Slovaks have been very bad.

I think you're exaggerating. One could argue that Halák, Sekera and Budaj have had better NHL careers than Tatar.

Also, have the Czechs fared much better in the same time frame? Yes, there's one superstar (Pastrňák) and several stars, I guess (Voráček, Krejčí, Hertl, Plekanec...), but the difference to Slovakia does not seem that dramatic to me.

I think both nations suffered compared to the pre-2000s draft generation.

Yeah, it has something to do with recovering from the Communist regime, transitioning to a new model of educating hockey youth, etc.

When the government organizes and finances everything for you for decades (and you "pay" for that by giving up your freedom), and then it suddenly doesn't and is pretty much in disarray, it causes a shock that it may take decades to overcome.

 

[SuperScript29]

I think you're exaggerating. One could argue that Halák, Sekera and Budaj have had better NHL careers than Tatar.

Also, have the Czechs fared much better in the same time frame? Yes, there's one superstar (Pastrňák) and several stars, I guess (Voráček, Krejčí, Hertl, Plekanec...), but the difference to Slovakia does not seem that dramatic to me.

I think both nations suffered compared to the pre-2000s draft generation.

Yeah, it has something to do with recovering from the Communist regime, transitioning to a new model of educating hockey youth, etc.

When the government organizes and finances everything for you for decades (and you "pay" for that by giving up your freedom), and then it suddenly doesn't and is pretty much in disarray, it causes a shock that it may take decades to overcome.

Not exaggerating at all, the Slovak talent has been crap post-2000. At this point I will even put Switzerland and pretty soon the Germans ahead.

 

[glovesave_35]

I said "since 2000" for a reason, Gaborik was drafted that year and since then, the Slovaks have been very bad.

Please don't be snippy. Your use of "since" in this instance is at best unclear and at worst incorrect.

"It's been snowing since yesterday." Since usually includes the time mentioned.

 

[SuperScript29]

Please don't be snippy. Your use of "since" in this instance is at best unclear and at worst incorrect.

"It's been snowing since yesterday." Since usually includes the time mentioned.

You seem offended over a 3 year old post of mine, which seemed to be a genuine opinion of the current Slovak talent pool, yet somehow I'm getting snippy

 

[glovesave_35]

You seem offended over a 3 year old post of mine, which seemed to be a genuine opinion of the current Slovak talent pool, yet somehow I'm getting snippy

Genuinely didn't realize it was an old post. But your wording was wrong, which is why I asked.

 

[Eye of Ra]

I said "since 2000" for a reason, Gaborik was drafted that year and since then, the Slovaks have been very bad.

What are you talking about? Slovakia was very good 2001-2012. And now they are becoming very good again with all prospects coming and bronze in Olympics.

Milos Kelemen and Pavol Regenda have signed entry level contracts. Samuel Bucek is rumoured to as well. Longshot they become nhl players but I think the outlook of Slovak hockey is better than it was 5 years ago

I wonder if there is any more free agent slovaks in Europe that might get a NHL deal. Perhaps Adam Liska or Peter Cehlarik.

(Im counting on Bucek to get a deal)

 

[SuperScript29]

What are you talking about? Slovakia was very good 2001-2012. And now they are becoming very good again with all prospects coming and bronze in Olympics.

Give me your top-5 Slovak players that played in the NHL that were drafted beyond 2000 (Gaborik not included for clarification's sake). Once you list them, tell me how many of them became stars such as the likes of Bondra, Chara, Demitra, Palffy, Satan, Gaborik, etc.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Give me your top-5 Slovak players that played in the NHL that were drafted beyond 2000 (Gaborik not included for clarification's sake). Once you list them, tell me how many of them became stars such as the likes of Bondra, Chara, Demitra, Palffy, Satan, Gaborik, etc.

I can give you more than 5.

Tatar
Panik
Halak
Sekera
Mezaros
Fehevary
Cernak
Budaj
Svatos

No stars, but not as bad as you are trying to make it.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I can give you more than 5.

Tatar
Panik
Halak
Sekera
Mezaros
Fehevary
Cernak
Budaj
Svatos

No stars, but not as bad as you are trying to make it.

That's where you're wrong.

 

[SuperScript29]

I can give you more than 5.

Tatar
Panik
Halak
Sekera
Mezaros
Fehevary
Cernak
Budaj
Svatos

No stars, but not as bad as you are trying to make it.

That was my point all along. Slovakia went from a country with so many stars drafted in the 90s to absolutely nothing. You had:

1990 - Peter Bondra
1991 - Zigmund Palffy and Jozef Stumpel
1993 - Pavol Demitra and Miroslav Satan
1994 - Richard Zednik
1995 - Michal Handzus
1996 - Zdeno Chara
1997 - Marian Hossa and Ladislav Nagy
2000 - Marian Gaborik and Lubomir Visnovsky

Your best player since then is likely Tatar. If you don't think this is a huge drop off in talent then I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Faterson]

absolutely nothing

Once again, you're exaggerating, as well as ignoring that similar could be said about Czech players.

Stümpel, Zedník, Handzuš and Nagy are comparable in stature to Tatar, Halák, Sekera and Černák. No superstars per NHL standards, but definitely not "absolutely nothing".

 

[SuperScript29]

Once again, you're exaggerating, as well as ignoring that similar could be said about Czech players.

Stümpel, Zedník, Handzuš and Nagy are comparable in stature to Tatar, Halák, Sekera and Černák. No superstars per NHL standards, but definitely not "absolutely nothing".

You're correct, the likes of Tatar and Halak are on the same level as Stumpel, Zednik, etc. But how am I exaggerating? You went from having 8 legit stars drafted in the span of 10 years to having no stars in the next 20+ years. If you look at my resurrected comment from 3 years ago, you'll notice I said this:

"I think the Slovakians in general might have benefited from being part of Czechoslovakia (In sports I'm talking)."

I didn't say anything about Czech players but yes, their talent pool declined as well compared to their 90s. Just saying that according to what I heard from actual Slovakians, there's some serious corruption in their system that the best players never make it to the top. Not sure if that's changing or not but we will see I guess.

 

[Faterson]

how am I exaggerating?

You said "absolutely nothing" and other overblown stuff. You should consult the dictionary in case you forgot what the words nothing and absolutely mean.

You're also exaggerating in that you present it as if it was a uniquely Slovak phenomenon, when something similar can be said about the Czechs.

according to what I heard from actual Slovakians, there's some serious corruption in their system that the best players never make it to the top.

That's nonsense. You misunderstood them. Corruption is everywhere, especially in post-Communist hellholes, but no one is preventing actual "best players" from rising to the top. It's a free world and rest assured that those "best players" would have made their careers in a different country if they had been quite as phenomenal as those stars drafted in the 90s.

The system of sports education collapsed after 1989, the interest in sports in general among kids dropped significantly with the advent of the Internet and handheld videogames, etc. Kids from poor families may no longer get the same opportunities as kids from wealthier families, but I guess that applies to many sports in many countries. Corruption may result in some talented kids not getting the same opportunities to develop as kids from "preferred families", but no one is preventing actual "best players" from "making it to the top". Any talent of a Hossa or Pálffy caliber would have left Slovakia pretty early on and made their career elsewhere. There just haven't been quite such talents over the last 20 years, but that's no shame and no tragedy, and especially, it's logical given the severely reduced talent pool.

Now with the newly installed Šatan regime (sounds sinister, doesn't it?), conditions may be improving so that it becomes possible to develop NHL-ready talent in domestic clubs and the domestic league. See Nemec, Mešár and Sýkora in this year's draft. Šatan and Handzuš stress that education is the key to everything, so if that keeps improving under their leadership, talents of the calibre drafted in the 1990s may return.

 

[MessierII]

A bunch of good prospects this draft correct?

 

[Faterson]

A bunch of good prospects this draft correct?

Potentially 2 players in the top 5 isn't bad! Perhaps 3 first-rounders, and 4 players in the first 2 rounds.

(Slafkovský and Nemec are slam dunks, Mešár may or may not go in the 1st round, and I have seen someone even put Sýkora in the 1st round, which would be monumental, if Slovakia had 4 first-rounders in a single year. It's unlikely, however, even though I think Sýkora was sensational at the World Championships, but I think he may be hurt by his smallish frame and very young age – he only turns 18 in early September. So, 2nd or 3rd round are likelier for him.)

To @SuperScript29: partially to confirm what I was saying about moving to a different country if the conditions at home are unbearable... there've been quite a few "fake Slovaks" drafted over the last 20 years whose parents typically fled Slovakia because of political oppression under Communism or to improve their economic status:

* Thomas Vanek (Slovak mother & Czech father; drafted 5th overall in 2003)
* Paul Šťastný (100% Slovak parents, 2nd round draft pick in 2005)
* Alex Tuch (Slovak roots, 1st-round draft pick in 2014, has Slovakia's national symbol tattooed on his back)
* Kevin Labanc (100% Slovak parents, drafted in 2014)
* Matthew Knies (100% Slovak parents, 2nd round Maple Leafs draft pick last year)

I may be forgetting about a few other "fake Slovaks". Talents should be there in upcoming years, and let's hope that this country can keep them in future, instead of exporting them abroad.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

A bunch of good prospects this draft correct?

Yes and the seem to have a pretty good pool of prospects for next years draft as well led by Dvorsky

 

[Antiillafire]

Where does Cernak rank if he wins the cup again alongside top Slovak players all time?