Slovakia won bronze at the Beijing Olympics. The Eastern players dominated Sweden 4-0 in the small final.
No doubt at the bottom of the tank following their defeat on penalties in the semi-finals once morest Russia the day before, the Scandinavians did not attack the game with incredible enthusiasm.
Quite the opposite of Slovaks who saw there a great opportunity to win their first medal in the Olympics. Craig Ramsay’s players opened the scoring in the 24th minute when young Juraj Slafkovsky found the fault in the Swedish defense with a slightly floating shot. The 17-year-old TPS Turku player scored his sixth goal of the tournament! The name of the 192 cm forward for nearly 100 kilos will be called very early on July 7 during the first round of the NHL draft in Montreal.
The Slovaks doubled the lead in the 33rd thanks to Samuel Takac, a former Gap and Lyon player. As in the first goal, goalkeeper Lars Johansson did not return his best copy by leaving an opening at his post.
Johan Garpenlöv released his goalkeeper and the Slovaks took the opportunity to score twice. Slafkovsky had time to add a seventh goal to his tournament.
Geneva and Davos are now eagerly awaiting the return of their imports for Tuesday’s game. Jan Cadieux must find Tömmernes, Filppula and Vatanen, while Christian Wohlvend is delighted with the arrivals of Bromé and Pospisil.
/ ATS
