On Friday, May 15, the annual hockey fever started. The World Hockey Championship will take place in Switzerland until May 31. The captain of the Slovak ice hockey players at the 89th WC in Switzerland is Marek Hrivík. His assistants are Martin Faško-Rudáš and Martin Pospíšil. Shortly before the beginning of the hockey madness in the podcast Slovak hockey forward Pavol Regenda spoke about the problems with participation in the World Hockey Championship.
Head coach Vladimír Országh announced on April 26 that Regenda will not strengthen the national team at the World Hockey Championships. “Paľ and I spoke on the phone several times, there were also some health issues, but first of all he feels he has one last chance to stay in America and fight for the NHL. For that, he needs a good summer preparation. Since he regularly went to the world championships in recent years, he feels that the time has come when he needs to rest and prepare for the next season“, he stated.
There are whispers behind the scenes that our greatest young talents are losing motivation to go to the World Cup. The non-participation of young athletes is not due to money, but to pure frustration with the Slovak hockey system. Players who experience world class in the NHL are said to be disgusted by how it (doesn’t) work at home. How does Paul perceive it?
Regenda openly admitted that he might have reacted the same way in the shoes of his star colleagues. According to him, players like Juraj Slafkovský are under enormous pressure from their NHL clubs. When you have signed a million-year contract for many years, clubs simply don’t want to risk injuring their key investment at an international tournament.
However, a question mark still hangs over Slafkovský’s participation in the World Hockey Championships. Coach Országh said on Friday, May 15 that on the list of the Slovakian team, there is a free place only in the attack. The coaching staff leaves him for Juraj Slafkovský, whose possible arrival, however, moved away after Montreal beat Buffalo 6-3 on Friday night and leads 3-2 in games in the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs.
Other talented young people like Šimon Nemec, who is currently fighting for a new contract. The 22-year-old defender of the overseas NHL club New Jersey Devils is out of rookie contract after this season. “We haven’t started contract negotiations yet. We’re waiting for a new general manager. Changes can certainly be expected. For this reason, I will not participate in the World Cup. However, I would like to continue with the club“, the official club website quoted the German.
Regenda openly admits that he likes to represent Slovakia. However, the team enjoys the most when they let off steam with the other athletes during regeneration during massages. “A lot of guys didn’t make it, so I wanted to help. I’m not saying it won’t work out, but the team wasn’t the best, huh?” he said bluntly.
According to him, why did some hockey players refuse to come? “I think that someone is looking at the team to see who is going there. When they say, he is not going, he is not going, he is not going. But there are definitely injuries.” he thought. He also talks about the high workload of the players. “When you play 90 games every year, man, that’s extreme. I’ve played so much this year, and you know that’s how they’ll play here in two years. It’s a massacre, a lot,” he revealed the flip side of sports.
Even the best player may not perform well. However, many fans do not realize what is behind it. “And those guys are tired. They come to rep and then play a match and you’re an asshole in front of people, because you don’t try to get a ticket. We’re people too.” he didn’t put napkins in front of his mouth.
