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The Slovak men’s hockey national team has had an extremely successful entry into the German Cup tournament in Krefeld. Coach Craig Ramsay’s charges defeated the Swiss 7: 1 and created an excellent starting position before the next two matches at the event.
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VIDEO: German Cup: Weakened Slovakia crushed Switzerland
On Saturday evening, the Slovaks will play against Russia’s Olympic team and on Sunday afternoon against the local Germans. The Russians defeated the Germans 4: 3 in the first duel. The first duel of Slovaks at the tournament was affected by the positive test of a pair of Slovak players for COVID-19, they did not intervene in the duel against the Swiss as well as the other two players who were in quarantine.
The score of the duel was opened in the 3rd minute by Dávid Gríger, who also adjusted to 2: 1 in the 30th minute and later recorded an assist. The Swiss scored only in the middle of the first period, when Enzo Corvi equalized to 1: 1. In the third period, Michal Krištof first increased to 3: 1 in a power play, after which Adrián Holešinský and Martin Vitaloš scored in the empty net.
At the end of the fight, Samuel Takáč and Andrej Kollár also entered the list of shooters. In the end, this was the highest victory of the Slovaks over the Swiss in history, which the Slovak players managed to repay the opponent 1: 8 loss from the World Cup 2021 in Riga, Latvia. The Slovaks defeated the Swiss after a long five years, before that last (4: 1) at the German Cup in November 2016.
Photo gallery
Hockey players of Slovakia
Source: TASR
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“Great, we won and a big difference. I believe it will give us such energy and confidence in the next matches. It was hectic before the duel and less than two hours before the match we didn’t know if we would play at all. But we were all professionals and we joined “It’s great that we did it for the boys who couldn’t come in.” Gríger, a 26-year-old native of Poprad, who works at the club level in Liberec, North Bohemia, commented.
“It was challenging, the Swiss skated the whole match very well. After the first period it was better, we were in pace, trying to play easily and not give them a chance after our mistakes. Great, we are looking forward to it. In I don’t expect a simpler duel on Saturday, because the Russians are very excellent skaters, ” added according to the Slovak Ice Hockey Association (SZĽH).
The first duel in the national team was completed by 17-year-old forward Filip Mešár from Poprad. He presented himself with one assistance. “I really enjoyed the debut in the national team. I played in the first offensive formation and in the power play, so I had great players around me who supported me the whole match. I have to praise the whole team – we fought and walked for victory. boy, because we’ve shown that we’re an excellent team. I’m happy for assistance, but victory is paramount. But I have to be stronger and more accurate in the endings because I’ve had enough shots. ” evaluated.
Photo gallery
Ice Hockey: Slovakia – Switzerland
Source: TASR
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The experienced Michal Krištof scored four Canadian points against the Swiss, and in addition to one accurate hit, he also had three assists. “What happened in the afternoon turned out great. Not every day we win over the Swiss by six goals. We have to understand why we won. We played responsibly and as a team. If we play like this, we have nothing to worry about and we can win. In the first period it was difficult to get used to the fact that we play three formations, it was important that we didn’t have long substitutions, then we got used to it and it was nice. , ” thinks 28-year-old Kometa Brno player.
After a smooth triumph, in addition to the players, the coaches could also be satisfied. “In the context of what happened, it is a very good result, but it does not need to be overestimated, because we scored two goals in an empty goal. Overall it was a very difficult match. We had a good start, but we were under pressure from the middle of the first period. and in power play and in balance, we couldn’t cope with the Swiss attack, they were everywhere and we lost a lot of light pucks in our zone.
In the second period we were helped by power games, which we did not play well, but we were more on the puck and more in the offensive zone. In the third period we were definitely a better team, we had good movement and we were strong in working with a hockey stick. We got a lot of pucks and we had a chance. It was a successful duel on our part, “ Ramsay’s assistant Ján Pardavý said for SZĽH and before Saturday’s fight against the Russians he added: “The Russians always bring a young team here, it’s no different now. They’re very handy and well-skated.”
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