Further to my post regarding the U18 world championship, Slovakia continues to impress. The Slovaks reached the tournament semifinals, where they took bronze medalist Team Canada to overtime before falling 4-3. That was the second time in the tournament Slovakia lost to Canada by a single goal, falling both times by the same 4-3 score. Also, it registered high quality wins over Finland and Czechia by identical 3-2 scores (the victory over Finland was in regulation; it prevailed against the Czechs via a shootout).
Slovakia’s success against neighboring Czechia stands out to me. Although similar in size in terms of land mass, Czechia has almost twice the population as Slovakia (10.5 million versus 5.4 million). Also, Czechia’s 183 indoor arenas provide far more opportunities for player development than Slovakia’s 77 sheets of ice. Add to these statistics Czechia’s comparative wealth advantage, logic would seemingly dictate a distinct edge for Czechia on the international stage.
That is not the case, especially recently. Czechia’s international credentials do speak for themselves, as evidenced by a silver-medal winning performance at this year’s world juniors. However, Slovakia reached the quarter-finals of that tournament, where it incurred a narrow 4-3 overtime loss to Team Canada, the eventual champion. Slovakia’s success does not end at the team level either, as fellow Slovaks Juraj Slafkovsky and Simon Nemec were the first two picks of the 2022 NHL draft. With respect to the 2023 draft, Dalibor Dvorsky is central scouting’s 3rd-ranked international skater. Dvorsky is expected to be among the top 20 draft picks this year, and only bolstered his stock with an all-star caliber performance at the U18 worlds.
In sum, drawing upon an already-rich hockey tradition when Czechia and Slovakia were one nation, the Slovaks are here to stay.