Alright, the 6 Golden (ex)Kings are (in alphabetical order):
* Michal
Handzuš (3rd from left in bottom row in new picture; lying on the ice, 1st from right in old picture; freshly elected to Hockey Slovakia's governing body, mostly works with youth hockey nowadays, but also had a brief stint with Craig Ramsey as Slovakia's national team coach & could perhaps one day be Ramsay's successor)
* Ladislav
Nagy (missing in new picture; 2nd to the right of Lubo in top row in old picture, with his elbow on Bartečko's shoulder)
* Ziggy
Pálffy (3rd from right in top row in new picture; 1st player from left in top row in old picture)
* Martin
Štrbák (tallest guy in mid-top row in both pictures)
* Jozef
Stümpel (1st from left in top row in new picture; middle row, just below Štrbák, in old picture, his face partially obstructed by Peter Bondra; won the crucial final defensive zone face-off in the gold medal game as Russia, with empty net, was pressing for the equalizer; whenever I hear the name Stümpel, I think of that particular face-off; and, of course, of the Kings' upset of Detroit back in 2001)
* Lubo
Višovský (4th from left in top row in new picture; 2nd from left in top row in old picture, just below Ziggy)
Other non-Kings notables in the pictures:
* Peter
Bondra (scored Golden Goal in gold medal game against Russia; missing in new picture; to the right of the cup in old picture, just below Štrbák and obstructing Stümpel)
* Miro
Šatan íteam captain and the tourney's MVP back then, president of Hockey Slovakia today, freshly re-elected; he posted the new picture
to his Twitter account yesterday; sitting to the right of the cup in new picture; lying on the ice below the cup in old picture)
* NHL Hall of Famer Peter
Šťastný (father of the Jets' Paul; team GM back then; sitting to the left of the cup in new picture; squatting 2nd from right in bottom row in old picture). The old gentleman in the wheelchair (missing in old picture) is Vladimír Šťastný (aged 77 today), goaltending coach 20 years ago; one of 2 Šťastný brothers who did
not defect to America during Communism, as opposed to the famous (younger) 3 Šťastný brothers.
Oh, how can we forget about the great Ladislav Nagy. Matthews must've been a fan when he was with the Coyotes.
I don't see him in the present photo, but he's probably the one Matthews would mention, seeing how he was a Coyotes fan growing up.
Yup, that's what I heard. Nagy was apparently the Coyotes' top offensive threat when Matthews was a young boy.
Too bad Demitra isn't here anymore to be in that picture.
It's a tragedy, but he couldn't be in the picture even if he was still alive.
He was playing in the NHL play-offs when the tournament was taking place. Same reason why Gáborík can't be in the picture. (Or Hossa and Chára.)
Man Palffy is looking rough.
I'm pleasantly surprised he's in the new picture at all. He reportedly has lots of disagreements with almost everyone else, especially regarding politics.
Isn't that Bondra as well?
Yeah, see above. It was exactly 20 years ago yesterday when he scored that Golden Goal, the most famous goal in Slovak hockey history to date. He made it 4-3 with 100 seconds left in the gold medal game against Russia. The pass came from Ziggy Pálffy:
Hint: his son is draft-eligible in 2023 and is ranked pretty high by the scouts. Plays the same position as dad.
