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After four years, Slovakia’s ice hockey team will once again appear at the Olympics. Just like three years ago, they advanced to the final Olympic qualifier without scoring a single point.
In Bratislava, they beat Austria 2-1, Hungary 7-3 and Kazakhstan 3-1 to seal their qualification. This success may also motivate head coach Craig Ramsay, who is under contract until next season but, as he said, wants to be part of the exciting tournament in Milan in 2026.
Two years ago, the Canadian coach led Slovakia to a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics. NHL players did not start in China, but players from Italy’s Below Five Rings professional league would.
“We’ll see how it goes. I’m sure we can physically last a few more years, have a good team and have a chance to compete for medals. I’m really proud that we were able to raise our game when we had to do it and if I was a part of that, I would,” Ramsey said.
This will be the seventh time that Slovak hockey players have competed in the main event of the Olympics, having previously started in Lillehammer in 1994, Turin in 2006, Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014, Pyeongchang in 2018 and two years ago in Beijing. They also competed in the five-ring competition in Nagano in 1998 and Salt Lake City in 2002, but did not advance to the main part of the competition.
“I was looking forward to it. I’m glad we made it, it was a very difficult game,” forward Martin Pospisil said.
Tomas Tatar is already looking forward to this match. In the competition, he led the Slovak team as the captain. “The most difficult match for me was the one against Austria, because I went into it without any preparation. The match against Kazakhstan was unpleasant, but we scored the first goal, which was very important. We didn’t want them to score, and they did. Samo Hlavaj nas played very well in front of the goal. I am very happy that we won the match and qualified for the Olympics. It will be an extraordinary match with the best players. It will be a great match of level.”
01 – Modified: 2024-09-01 21:40:44 – Feat.: – Title: Slovakia rejoice after win over Kazakhstan, they qualify for Olympics02 – Modified: 2024-09-01 12:14:42 – Feat.: – Title: Slovak ice hockey players will play against Kazakhstan without injured Simon Nemec03 – Modified: 2024-08-31 20:54:43 – Feat.: – Title: Slovakia end their show in Fussen with loss to France04 – Modified: 2024-08-31 19:33:52 – Feat.: – Title: Slovakia 20 beat Switzerland, take fourth place in Zug05 – Modified: 2024-08-31 08:30:11 – Feat: – Headline: Slovakia is one step away from a Winter Olympics berth. Frühauf says his confidence has grown
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