Hockey World Championship 2025: KHL players in the Slovak jersey polarize the company

Stockholm. He has been working for thirty years Slovak hockey team in the elite category of the World Cup.

During that time, she achieved exceptional success, including the 2002 World Champion title, faced a crisis and boycott of players induced in the hockey movement, but has never been under such social and political pressure as in recent months and before World Cup 2025.

In February 2022, the troops of the Russian Federation were attacked by Ukraine and are still continuing the war campaign against the neighbor. Russian bombs and rockets turn on the Ukrainian towns and villages that destroy infrastructure and kill civilians.

The war in the east of Europe has also affected world sport and the attitude towards it also affects the atmosphere in Slovak hockey in front of the World Championship, which will start in Sweden and Denmark on Friday.

The Hockey World Championship has long been the most watched sports event among Slovak fans. However, some of them on social networks or various Internet forums advise that the tournament will ignore the tournament and the Slovak team will not support.

One of the hockey legends rejected the offer of a television expert during the World Championship. The reason is three letters, which have long been polarized by the Slovak company – KHL.

Handzuš failed and left

Shortly after the outbreak of the war, three years ago, the International Hockey Federation decided to exclude Russia and Belarus from international tournaments at all levels.

The hockey unions of several countries (Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland or Latvia) have declared that players who sign a contract with Russian clubs after February 24, 2022 (start of war), will not wear the national jersey. The Russian KHL serves as a tool for propaganda Putin’s regime.

Shortly after the attack of Ukraine, KHL clubs received a letter from the Russian hockey union in which their officials asked them to express their support to the army. Propagandistic leaflets or flags were distributed at the stadiums.

In Kazan, the letter Z appeared on the cube as a symbol of « special military operation ». At the match between the army club CSKA Moscow and Jaroslavl, the banner developed for Russia! Nazism will not pass.

The Slovak Ice Hockey Association did not accept an opinion that would not allow players from KHL to represent. The initiative of Michal Handzuš did not support the other members of the Executive Committee, which resulted in the departure of the former striker from the management body.

At the World Championship 2023 and 2024 KHL players in the Slovak team did not play. Two years ago, the SZĽH stated that it would « disrupt peaceful preparation ».

Last year, he said that KHL players « for various reasons, whether health, personal, family or others, are not available for the needs of the national team before the peak of the season. »

Satan: We are neutral

However, the situation changed last summer, when players in Russia returned to the national team at the Olympic Qualification tournament in Bratislava.

« We know that people have different opinions, but we want to fight for success and this is our philosophy. We are a sports organization and we do not want to deal with anything else, » said the head of the SZĽH and the general manager of the national team Miroslav Šatan.

On the journalistic question, whether it was necessary to polarize the company by this step, the former hockey captain replied:

« There are other opinions in society that need to be respected. There are other opinions that may not have been satisfied in the past. Now there may be no other group. We do not want to be on one or the other.

Pellegrini appealed, Huliak asked

The work of KHL players in the national team also became the subject of political struggle in Slovakia. In the presidential campaign, Peter Pellegrini pulled this question last year when he appealed to the Hockey Association to allow KHL players to play at the World Championship in the Czech Republic.

The Minister of Tourism and Sport Rudolf Huliak went even last week.

In the video on the social network on Monday as a fan of Slovak hockey, but also the government representative, he addressed the head of the Slovak Ice Hockey Association and the general manager of the national team Miroslav Šatan with the words::

« I ask you and I strongly ask you to take into account as many KHL players as possible in creating the nomination. These hockey players represent our country at the highest level. They have an excellent form. And their presence in the national team would clearly increase their chances of success. »

The hockey association responded with a brief opinion in which he reminded the Minister that « the decisive criterion in creating nominations for hockey teams is exclusively the sports performance of players ».

More KHL players had only Kazakhstan

The team, which is preparing for the opening match at the World Championship against Sweden (Friday from 20.20 Live on TV JOJ), features two players playing currently in the clubs of Russian KHL – goalkeeper Patrik Rybár (Chinese Kunlun working in the suburbs of Moscow) and defender Mario Grman (Admiral Vladivostok).

The other three hockey players – Adam Húska, Michal Krištof and Mislav Rosandič – signed contracts in Russia after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, but no longer operate in KHL.

Húska and Rosandič ended up last season, Christopher during the current one when he left Sochi despite the valid contract and he was angry with the Russians.

Some fans cannot identify with this team for a few players.

Michal Handzuš, who unsuccessfully initiated an opinion on the exclusion of KHL players from the national team in 2022, decided not to work as a television expert during the World Championship.

Three countries have been nominated for the KHL players since 2023.

In the case of France and Slovenia, their representation was symbolic (Stéphane da Costa or Jan Drozg). In the Kazakh team they form the skeleton of the representation, as the Barys Astana club operates in KHL.