Slovak hockey players did not defend their bronze medals from Beijing four years ago at the 2026 Olympics. In Saturday’s duel for third place at the Olympic tournament in Milan, they easily lost to Finland 1:6. The Slovaks also finished in fourth place at the Olympics in 2010 in Vancouver, when they lost to the Finns (3:5).
The eyes of fans and experts focused mainly on our team Juraj Slafkovský (21), who after the tournament reached the top six of the Olympic Games in Milan. Apart from him, only the representatives of the finalists of the USA and Canada appear in it. Slafkovský followed up on the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, where he also appeared in the ideal six. In Milan, he was the most productive player of the Slovak team, when he collected 8 Canadian points for 4 goals and 4 assists. He placed fourth in the Canadian scoring of the tournament.
The performances of our draft unit did not go unnoticed even by the legendary Jaromir Jágr (54), who, in a stream on with director Peter Větrovský, evaluated the actions of the Slovaks before the match against the USA.
“I like how Slafkovský plays. And maybe I like him because I see myself in him when I was young. I like those types of players who are strong in defense. Who are strong, who can move – I’m not talking about walking, he’s also fast – but he’s very smart because he can pass those players through the middle zone. He can enter the offensive zone with the puck, which most players solve by throwing the puck and flying after it. So he plays the style we played,” declared the native of Kladno.
Spectators will no longer see Jágr on the competition ice
The legendary Czech hockey player Jaromír Jágr will probably no longer appear on the competitive ice. 54-year-old forward from Kladno he last started in a Czech league game on December 21 and signaled the end of his extremely successful career on Friday on social media.
Jágr played only six duels this season. “They won’t see me again. Probably not. It would have to be a miracle. God would have to come and enter me and make me fifteen years younger. But sometimes I go skating.” he said on Instagram. The end of Jágro’s career has already been speculated in the past, the player himself spoke about it several times, the portal isport.cz reminded. The current season is already the 38th in his professional career, he played 24 seasons in the overseas NHL.
