Great disappointment prevailed in the feelings of Slovak hockey players after the match for bronze at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan. After a smooth loss to Finland 1:6, they were at a loss for words. The attacker Miloš Kelemen was most saddened by the fact that the great team did not achieve the success it deserved.
The Slovaks held on in the match and although the Finns were leading 2-0, Tomáš Tatar’s goal at the end of the second period gave them energy. But then came a foul by Adam Ružička in the third period and conceded a goal, immediately the Finns scored one more. “The goal made it 3-1, it’s a shame. We had a good start to the third period, we were close to a goal. I had the feeling that the Finns were slowly falling away, but we stupidly gave them a chance. It’s a shame,” Kelemen said.
Vladimír Országh’s men kept pace with the favorite for 50 minutes and the goal was hanging in the air at 2:2. “It was felt that they were running out of energy. They had a tough game yesterday, as did we, but with that goal we got on the horse. It’s a real shame that we didn’t finish it.” added the SR striker.
However, fourth place is definitely a success for Slovak hockey. All three teams before the Slovaks had squads composed exclusively of NHL players. Just like the Swedes, who ended their journey in the quarterfinals. “Yesterday against the USA, it should have ended differently. When you are so close, you want to bring home a medal. Now there is great disappointment, I don’t know when it can happen again. I don’t know if there will ever be a team like the one that met here. We will hope. But with hard work we got close and we wanted to finish it with some valuable metal for everyone at home. But especially for us, we are sorry.” stated Kelemen.
Despite the disappointment after the last match at the tournament, the Slovak attacker will also take away emotional experiences. “The progress with Germany was nice and it can be said that I will remember even the bad emotions. It is a lesson for me in my hockey career and in my life for the future. That’s just the way sports are, things don’t always go the way we want them to. Today we had more chances, but credit must also be given to Sam Hlavaj, he caught enough, the Finns also gave sticks. But we had a few goals in the first period as well. But the sporting luck was a little on their side and that’s life. Now we have to go back and continue working. We’ll see how it goes on.”
