Šimon Nemec (photo: X/NHL)
Šimon Nemec is currently living a dream in the first team of the New Jersey Devils, and his participation in the upcoming World Junior Championships seems less likely. However, the young defender believes that Slovakia can achieve success even without him or Juraj Slafkovský.
“Of course he has, he has an excellent goalkeeper in the form of Adam Gajan. They can certainly surprise and maybe there won’t be so much pressure on them and they can win a big result. We have a strong generation. In the past, we would have given a lot for two players in the NHL at this age,” Nemec told the Šport newspaper.
So is the participation of the German in the tournament definitively ruled out?
“I won’t answer that for you, but you probably know the answer,” answered the second pick of last year’s draft.
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The German’s priority now is to stay in the NHL as long as possible. At the moment, he does not know how long he will be active in the first team. He will play in the first pair again on Tuesday against Vancouver, but then Brendan Smith will be able to return from suspension.
“I should play another game and we’ll see what happens after that. I believe I will stay at the Devils as long as possible. I will go all out in every match because I want to play in the best league in the world. The conditions cannot be compared with anything else,” said Nemec, who also compared the NHL with the AHL.
“I wasn’t as beaten as I was in the AHL, where I score five or six points every third period. I didn’t get similar ‘hits’ here, which surprised me. It was much easier to play in the attacking zone, because the players are very smart and know how to pass it to you. It was easier than in the AHL.”
2023-12-05 21:00:00
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