The Slovaks reached the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament for the second time in a row after beating the Germans 6-2 in Wednesday’s quarter-final match. The Czechs were also close to the top four, but Canadian Mitch Marner took care of the decisive accurate shot in overtime. Despite great fighting spirit, the Milan ride ended for our neighbors.
Unless Czechs and Slovaks meet in a mutual confrontation, they always keep their fingers crossed for the other, since we shared a common state for many decades. And it looks like it will be the same this time. after the elimination of the Czech Republic, he published a picture that moved many Slovaks. “We pass the scepter, brothers! Avenge us!” read the text accompanying the graphic in which one character offers his sword to another. PHOTO can be found in the gallery!
The Czech hockey players had mixed feelings after the quarter-final loss to Canada at the Olympic Games in Milan. They really tormented the biggest favorite of the tournament and succumbed to him only in overtime. Forward David Pastrňák spoke of his pride in the team, which significantly improved its approach after the lackluster performance against Denmark, coach Radim Rulík criticized the referees. He especially did not like the double standard of judging interventions.
However, the Czechs left a nice impression in the quarter-finals and received several words of appreciation from the Canadians. Coach Rulík was also proud of his team, which performed significantly better against Canada than in the match in the basic group (0:5). His feelings about the team’s performance were mixed with frustration with the referees. He praised his players, who were ahead of Canada 2:1 and 3:2, for their performance.
For several players of the Czech team, it was the first Olympic tournament. They also include the 29-year-old forward Pastrňák, who was one of the team’s offensive leaders. He has already collected over 900 points in the NHL, but until now he did not have the opportunity to start at the Olympics, since the NHL did not let its players go to them in 2018 and 2022. That is why he was extremely looking forward to the confrontation with the best teams in the world and wanted to achieve success in the national team jersey.
The Czechs fought their way into the top eight after beating Denmark 3:2. Although they fulfilled the role of favorites in that match, they were aware that their performance was not ideal. On the second day, they learned from him, but in the end they narrowly lost to the favorite of the Olympic Games. Our neighbors are missing from the top four of the Olympic tournament for the fourth time out of the past five Olympic Games. In 2018, they lost in Pyeongchang in the bronze medal match. So far, the last medal from the Olympics was won in Turin 20 years ago, when they finished with bronze.
