Slovakia has finally waited to see another hockey medal. And we have been waiting for long – nine years to be precise! Before, the national team managed to achieve this under the baton of František Hossa in 2003 in Helsinki, and at the same place this precious metal has been won by the wards of the Czech “man at the wheel” Vladimír Vůjtek now. The team was leaving for the Finnish capital to the 76th WIHC and were shaking in their shoes, with a secret dream to advance to the quarterfinals and fight for the direct advancement to the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014. But it ended up differently, and Slovakia has its heroes again. Although they lost against the self-confident Russians 2:6 in the finals but the second place after some years of misery is a great success. The players after the game dedicated this silver to their last captain Pavol Demitra (†36) who died tragically in September 2011. “This medal is for Pali who we have always had in our hearts,” said the captain Chára. “Pali has been with us here all the time and in the critical moments he helped us from above,” said the forward Branko Radivojevič.
Who would have guessed that after the two initial losses with Canada (2:3) and Finland (0:1) the Slovak representatives would start up and will show a several-match series without a loss. This was launched against another favourite, the USA (4:2). Michal Handzuš joined the team and the power of the team was intensifying. The Vůjtek gang repeated the same result in the fourth duel with Kazakhstan. After having two days off, they showed a goal hurricane against Belarus (5:1). From this moment on, Slovakia was counted with in the quarterfinal at the championship. They entered the best eight after a narrow triumph over the Swiss 1:0, however, also after four victories the advancement from the basic group was not sure before the last match. Our team could be sent home by the ambitious Frenchmen after another victory (5:4), but the quarterfinal dream came true and moreover, regardless of further development at the WIHC, we secured also direct advancement to the Olympics.
After these fulfilled targets the Slovak hockey players were released from the burden of responsibility and in the quarterfinal encounter against Canada they were skating with the desire to surprise the great favourite. After a sensational turn in the final period and after winning 4:3 the Slovak nation went into the streets. The crowd got even more aroused by the victory of 3:1 over the Czech Republic and advancement into the final.  The tiredness reflected on the Slovak team in this match and the world champion trophy was lifted up by the Russian hockey players. “For us the silver is a satisfaction because there were only a few people who believed in us before leaving for the championship. We united though, we created a great team and we had a great coach, thanks to that we achieved an unbelievable success,” said the moved Miroslav Šatan who as the only Slovak hockey player can boast with a complete medal collection from the World Championship. It consists of silver from St. Petersburg 2000, gold from Göteborg 2002, bronze from Helsinki 2003 and silver also from Helsinki 2012.                                                       

Milan Hanzel