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Great players are shaped by heavy defeats.
Juraj Slafkovský and Šimon Nemec were extremely disappointed yesterday after the 1–6 blowout loss to Finland in the bronze medal game at the Milan Olympics. Both are wired to win. Both want to win every time they step on the ice. But every great player has had to go through painful defeats.
In the first photo, they are devastated after the thrashing by Russia in the final of the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Piešťany. That tournament was, in many ways, a victory for them. They showed the world exactly what they were capable of. Slovak youth teams usually just take part in the prestigious summer event. The group built around them and Dalibor Dvorský came in as a contender.
It gradually led not only to Olympic bronze in Beijing, but especially to the NHL Draft, where they went first and second overall. They are NHL players now. Slafkovský is on a clear path toward stardom, and Nemec — I hope — will get a club where he receives the same trust and space he has in the national team.
Both are surely motivated to come back stronger. And the future may yet point Slovak hockey in a brighter direction.
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