History of ice hockey in Slovakia

Canada is the country widely known for introducing the game of ice hockey to the world. Although there were similar games played around the globe, Canadian ice hockey was the one to achieve dominance.

For example: bandy hockey -- a game very close to modern ice hockey and native to Europe -- was modified and later fully replaced by ice hockey. When the first European Championships took place in 1910 the game was a mixture of elements of both bandy and ice hockey. The difference between the two was mainly the rules and the equipment used by players. Bandy hockey used shorter sticks and the protective equipment was also rather modest. The Canadian form of the game had fully replaced the other variations on the European continent during the Olympic Games in Chamonix in 1924.

In 1908, the International Ice Hockey Federation, an international organization that still runs most of the international hockey tournaments today, was established. In Slovakia (as a part of former Czechoslovakia), Canadian Ice Hockey was popularized during the European Championships in High Tatras in 1925.

In 1929 the first official tournament took place in Slovakia. The Tatra Cup is the second oldest tournament in Europe, after the Spengler Cup in Switzerland. The first organization of Slovak ice hockey was established under the name of Slovenská župa kanadského ľadového hokeja as a part of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation in what was then Czechoslovakia.

The first organized competition was held in 1930. Subsequently, the first Slovak team who were able to compete with the stronger Czech teams was HC Tatry in 1936. Another team from Slovakia joined the common competition in the following year.

Throughout the course of ice hockey history in Czechoslovakia, many Slovak players became eligible to play for the Czechoslovakian national team. Among those who were able achieve this was Ladislav Troják; A native of Košice who left for Prague to play for the LTC Praha -- at those times considered to be the best ice hockey team in the country -- in 1934. From there he was only a step away from playing for the national team.

There are many others who also made Slovakia famous for ice hockey around the world. Some examples are:

*Matej Buckna, a Canadian coach of Slovak origin, who helped to develop ice hockey in Czechoslovakia.
*Vladimír Dzurilla, a goalkeeper who helped Czechoslovakia to achieve a number of remarkable international triumphs and a player of an older generation.
*Ján Starší, highly respected coach and team manager, also from an older generation.

Similarly to the Czech Republic, Slovakia is internationally considered to be a breeding ground for talented players, many of whom are playing in the best leagues in the world, of which the NHL is the most prestigious.

Czechoslovakia and its successor states are rated as being among the leading nations on the international scene, thanks to their triumphs in the Winter Olympic Games and the World Championships.

However, the Slovak national team had to face a difficult challenge in 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. According to the IIHF regulations it had to compete with countries with little or no ice hockey tradition at all to prove being worthy to compete at the highest level. Many ice hockey experts and journalists found this rather humiliating for Slovakia. It has since found its way all the way back to the top. Within only a few years of independent existence as a young nation it would mark its biggest triumph ever by winning the world championships in Sweden in 2002.

Famous Slovak hockey players

*Jozef Golonka
*Peter Bondra
*Zdeno Chára
*Pavol Demitra
*Marián Gáborík
*Michal Handzuš
*Marcel Hossa
*Marián Hossa
*Vincent Lukáč
*Vladimír Dzurilla
*Stan Mikita
*Igor Liba
*Žigmund Pálffy
*Branko Radivojevič
*Miroslav Šatan
*Anton Šťastný
*Marián Šťastný
*Peter Šťastný
*Jozef Stümpel
*Marek Svatoš
*Róbert Švehla
*Ľubomír Višňovský
*Richard Zedník

ee also

*History of ice hockey
*Slovakia national ice hockey team