Preparation for Hockey World Championship 2025: Slovaks won for the first time

Piešťany. 10 matches. Exactly the winning line of Slovakia’s hockey players in the 2024/25 season lasted.

The series stopped only in preparation for the World Championship in 2025.

On Thursday, however, the men of the temporary coach Vladimír Országh scored the first win, Germany conquered convincingly 4: 0.

« The Slovaks performed very well. They were active, scored four goals and the goalkeeper Húska kept a clean account. There is everything we needed.

The win is also important for the psyche of the team. I hope that it will give the players strength to the next fighting, « said JOJ Plus Expert Branko Radivojevič in the studio.

Two two -goal shooters

The coaching team made several changes in the line -up before the second meeting against Germany. Adam Húska stood in the goal, and the striker Samuel Takáč also joined the preparation for the first time.

Looking at the result, it may seem that the course of the duel was clear, but the victory of the Slovak representatives was not easy. Already the opening substitution of the match suggested that the balanced course will be repeated from Wednesday.

After the initial pressure of the guests, the Slovaks were given a power play, which was used by Andrej Kukuč.

The JOJ Plus studio experts discussed after the first period why they could not increase the duel’s home score.

« We need to win fights, be more on the puck, pushing more into the goal. This is the key to score more goals, » said expert Branko Radivojevič.

While the Slovaks were unable to break the German resistance on Wednesday and lost a two -goal lead, they did not allow a similar scenario on Thursday.

In the second period they surpassed the goalkeeper Franzreba up to three times and practically decided on the result of the duel. Kukuča scored the second goal in the match, and Maxim Čajkovič also scored two precise hits.

Video: Maxim Čajkovič evaluates the win over Germany

« At 2: 0, we thought we couldn’t lose pucks. We managed to see it and see it in the result, » said Tchaikovic after the second part of the game.

It was his first precise goals in the most valuable jersey. « It is a nice feeling, but this is just a preparation. I would prefer to win a championship and I could score there, » Tchaikovic added.

Országh: The difference was that we scored goals

The Slovaks were able to build on the performance of the first preparatory matches, but with a positive result.

According to coach Vladimír Országh, the team is improving every match. « The guys unlock it and we guarded it. I am very happy for them, » he said after the match.

Video: Vladimír Országh responds after the match Slovakia – Germany

« The biggest difference from yesterday was that we scored goals. We scored more, pushed into the goal, » added Orszagh, praising two -goal shooters and goalkeeper Adam Huska.

The temporary coach, who replaced Craig Ramsay on the bench of Craig Ramsay, scored his first win as the head of the inverter.

« He certainly fits well. Seeing that a boulder fell from his heart, » said expert Radivojevič with a smile.

Significant changes in the team

After the match, four hockey players said goodbye to the team – defenders Michal Laurenčík, Matúš Hlaváč, Tomáš Královič and striker Andrej Krajčovič.

On the contrary, the leadership of the national team called five hockey players. On Monday, defenders Mario Grman (Admiral Vladivostok, KHL), David Mudrák (Mountfield HK, TEM), Michal Beňo (HKM Zvolen) and the attackers Marek Hecl and Andrej Kudrna (both HKM Zvolen) will participate in the preparation of the Czech Republic.

« With the end of the playoffs series in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, we were given the opportunity to complement the team of more experienced players who have been part of the national team for a long time, know our system and have a good season from an individual point of view, » said coach assistant Peter Frühauf.

The Slovaks are now waiting for a few days of relaxation, the preparation continues on Monday. During the next week (24 and 25 April) they will measure their strength in Ostrava-Porube with the reigning world champions of the Czechs.