Yeah, without those four I think Slovakia will be incredibly lucky to finish high enough to avoid one of the big 4 in the QF's. Halak imo is the biggest omission. Chara's leadership and expeirence will be missed, but overall I think the Slovak defence is pretty good even without him. Cehlarik and Jurco might be bigger omissions, which feels werid to say. But they would have been the 3rd and 4th best forwards on this team on paper. Hopefully Hudacek makes a quick recovery. Studenic I think will surprise some people. He was one of the last cuts in Devils training camp last fall. I saw a couple of their games in preseason and he looked very good. I think he'll defenitely make his NHL debute next season.
WC: Team Slovakia
- Thread starter lostinwarsaw
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Yeah, without those four I think Slovakia will be incredibly lucky to finish high enough to avoid one of the big 4 in the QF's. Halak imo is the biggest omission. Chara's leadership and expeirence will be missed, but overall I think the Slovak defence is pretty good even without him. Cehlarik and Jurco might be bigger omissions, which feels werid to say. But they would have been the 3rd and 4th best forwards on this team on paper. Hopefully Hudacek makes a quick recovery. Studenic I think will surprise some people. He was one of the last cuts in Devils training camp last fall. I saw a couple of their games in preseason and he looked very good. I think he'll defenitely make his NHL debute next season.
tobu
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stastny12
Registered User
tobu
Registered User
When I look at this lineup, I feel like Slovakia are focusing in on the game against Germany. They could've spread out Cernak and Sekera on different pairings, which arguably would be a smart thing to do against USA that has so many lines that can score. But the way I see it, they are trying to build chemistry before the Germany game. Sekera and Cernak will see alot of Draisaitl. Marincin and Jaros are good enough to defend against what comes after.
Same thing up front, Tatar and Panik together and with the best center between them. Slovakia putting all the eggs in one basket. Germany doesn't have a defensive pairing that would match up well against that trio.
slovakiasnextone
Registered User
I think that the line-up looks a bit like they are going to go with the old two offensive and two checking lines line-up.
Retroglyphs
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- Mar 23, 2018
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Yeah, the german defense gives me headaches. At least our first three lines in the offense are able to wreak havoc, and they need to.
tobu
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slovakiasnextone
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Since Latvia has such an edge over Slovakia on offense this year, I can't wait to see them play a game as they must really have one hell of an offense. /s, sorry I could not resist this one little jab after all that's been said in this thread, but it's all said in good natured jest
Anyway, back to Team Slovakia, I said they could only surprise me and they have certainly proven me wrong on offense and exceeded most of my expectations tonight.
What I liked most was that they clearly came to the game with a we came to win attitude. It's good that they didn't crumble completely after the 1:1 goal.
If they continue this way, there will definitely be no complaints from my end.
Anyway, back to Team Slovakia, I said they could only surprise me and they have certainly proven me wrong on offense and exceeded most of my expectations tonight.
What I liked most was that they clearly came to the game with a we came to win attitude. It's good that they didn't crumble completely after the 1:1 goal.
If they continue this way, there will definitely be no complaints from my end.
Ivo
Registered User
Best I’ve seen Slovakia play since 2012 semis or even Vancouver2010. I especially love that when they retrieved the puck there was no panic, usually they kept possession and made a play. Every player bought into the game plan. Simply a fantastic game!
tobu
Registered User
Pretty much no mistakes and forced Americans to so many giveaways. I always said that the goal to success is fast skating and today they were faster than Americans, every single line. They were confident and you could tell they really wanted to win.
stastny12
Registered User
Yes we skated well, and played mistake free but also took risks. I didn’t see any bad performances from any players.
stastny12
Registered User
- I am quite surprised with faceoffs. We won 57.14 % of them.
- Marincin and Jaros: both +3 in plus/minus statistics
- Way more shots by home side: 36 - 26
- Only three SVK players finished game with zero shots. We were really shooting from every position. It could be a key element in next games, as well.
- Marincin and Jaros: both +3 in plus/minus statistics
- Way more shots by home side: 36 - 26
- Only three SVK players finished game with zero shots. We were really shooting from every position. It could be a key element in next games, as well.
Jabs102501
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- May 16, 2018
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penepi
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No way. At least 7:1. But ok, their defence is a bit weaker, so 9:2.Latvia would have beaten the US 5-1
Positives from first game:
* Rybar showing he can handle the pressure from the home crowd.
* Panik and Tatar combining for a goal early in the tournament.
* Sekera/Cernak showing they can be a good top pair, and Marincin/Jaros showing they can be a good second pairing.
* Depth players scoring, giving everyone confidence.
* Good team defence.
* Good special teams.
* Great team effort.
There's barely anything negative one can say about this game.
* Rybar showing he can handle the pressure from the home crowd.
* Panik and Tatar combining for a goal early in the tournament.
* Sekera/Cernak showing they can be a good top pair, and Marincin/Jaros showing they can be a good second pairing.
* Depth players scoring, giving everyone confidence.
* Good team defence.
* Good special teams.
* Great team effort.
There's barely anything negative one can say about this game.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We also beat the eventual Olympic champion, Russia, in the first tournament game, and it was nothing but disaster from then onwards. The US could still win the title here, and Slovakia fight against relegation.
One game, however great, is nothing. Ramsay said it, too, and Sekera. The US totally underestimated Slovakia, as often happens (not just in hockey or sports). They expected Slovakia to roll over all by themselves and die.
One game, however great, is nothing. Ramsay said it, too, and Sekera. The US totally underestimated Slovakia, as often happens (not just in hockey or sports). They expected Slovakia to roll over all by themselves and die.
slovakiasnextone
Registered User
I think that from the player interviews they don't have their heads in the clouds.
I also don't like to be uncarefully optimistic, but I really don't think worries about relegation are on the schedule this year, after having seen GB play in their preparation game against us.
Even if the US underestimated Slovakia, our win was also a result of a compact team that adheres to a system. If they stick to the system, there is just no way they will be losing points to ALL of Den/Fra/Ger/Gb.
tobu
Registered User
Good performance again vs Finland. Kakko beat us. Also Rybar is clearly no 1. Ciliak is not bad, but I thought he should have had at least one of those goal shots.
stastny12
Registered User
Damn. I am really frustrated by this one. We almost got them. It feels like a lose in some game 7...
Holden Caulfield
CANADA. True North Strong and FREE
Haven't caught either of the games yet. How has Dano played? Seems to be getting a decent share of icetime with 5th most among forwards in game 1, 2nd most in game 2. Is he playing PP or PK?
