7 Apr
If there is anything that described how Slovakia is preparing for the ice hockey World Championships, the only thing that comes to mind is the word ‘enthusiasm’.
Despite the fact that this event will not be able to steal the limelight from the NHL in terms of the presence of the world’s top players in the event, fans are adorning the streets with stickers, flags, scarves and even painted statues of their players in the hope that the host nation wins these championships for the second time.
Nine years ago, Slovakia boasted of some of the best players that featured at the NHL regularly but it is a different story today, and former players are unwilling to put their money on the home team to take the gold.
To put it succinctly, the sport finds itself in poor shape in the country due to the fact that the system that should support young talent is not in place, while players such as Pavol Demitra have said that there is a dearth of good coaches to increase the country’s chances of winning in any competition let alone this one.
While the Czech Republic has a total of 157 indoor rinks, Slovakia only has 45, and the number of registered junior players also pale in comparison to the Republic’s numbers as well clearly indicating that the sport of ice hockey in the country is in need of help.
And despite the fact that Russia, Canada and the Czech Republic are among the favorites to win, there is no doubt that this will be an ice hockey feast for starving fans in Slovakia.