Czech and Slovak Cultural Center

EVEN though David did not beat Goliath, the Slovak underdog was the unexpected surprise of the whole IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, which took place in Finland and Sweden between May 4 and 20, 2012. Although Slovakia’s national team was not favoured at the beginning, it greatly surpassed the expectations of both fans and experts when it played for the gold.

“If someone told me after seven losses in the final pre-tournament phase that we will bring the medal from Helsinki, I would proclaim him a lunatic,” said Vladimír Vůjtek, the Slovak team coach from Czech Republic, as quoted by the Sme daily.

Despite the absence of several ice-hockey stars who had played for the national team in previous years, Slovakia succeeded in winning the medal for the first time since its bronze medal win, also in Helsinki, in 2003. The team’s relatively young players disproved doubts about the future of Slovak ice hockey by beating much stronger and more seasoned opponents.

“It’s a big day for Slovak hockey, and we can be proud,” said forward Mário Blizňák, as quoted by IIHF official report. “Without big stars we showed heart, so the future looks good.”

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Three first period goals were enough for the Czechs to beat Finland 3-2, and win IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship bronze.

Finland outshot the Czechs 14-1 in the last period but the Czech defence, led by goaltender Jakub Stepanek, weathered the storm. Stepanek made 34 saves in the game, Davod Krejci got the game winning goal for the Czechs.

“It feels pretty good. The loss against Slovakia yesterday hurt. We let the final slip away, but that’s how it goes. At this tournament, it comes down to one game, and it didn’t work for us yesterday. We regrouped pretty well last night and today, and the bronze medal feels pretty good right now,” Krejci said.

The final World Curling Federation (WCF) championships of the 2010-2011 season get underway on Sunday 17 April, 2011 when Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA plays host to the 2011 World Mixed Doubles Championship and the 2011 World Seniors Curling Championships.

The two events will run until Saturday 23 April and will be staged simultaneously in the historic eight-sheeter St Paul Curling Club which was originally founded in 1888 and is currently the largest curling club in the United States.

Altogether 24 nations will participate in the Mixed Doubles event in St Paul: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and hosts USA.

Visit http://www.2011worldcurling.com for more information.

The 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship will take place from April 29th to May 15th, 2011 in the Slovak Republic. Bratislava and Kosice will be the host cities. Slovakia will be hosting this prestigious event for the first time. The event includes 17 days of championship games with 16 nations competing in four groups for a total of 56 games. It is being hosted by the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation.

Fun fact: Slovakia is ranked second in terms of the number of players playing in NHL per the number of inhabitants, second only to Canada. Almost every puck currently used in the NHL is stamped “Made in Slovakia”. Visit http://www.iihf.com/channels-11/iihf-world-championship-wc11/home.html for more information.