Ex-NHL star Zdeno Ciger's team is very young / Hot summer behind the scenes
Slovakia is one of the regular guests Deutschland Cups. She has won the cup three times, most recently in 2011. This time, however, her team is coming to the tournament under different circumstances. There are several newcomers in the squad. “They are aware that they would hardly be there if the best were all available to us,” says team manager Robert Svehla, explaining the situation.
A situation that couldn't be more bizarre. In the summer, a group of 27 top players declared that they would boycott all Slovak ice hockey events if Igor Nemecek remained in office as president. The stars around ex-NHL crack Michal Handzus criticize that the presidential election at the end of June was undemocratic and that this was made possible by outdated statutes. That has to be changed. Nemecek reacts. His opponent Richard Lintner, whom the rebels support, is appointed head of the national extra league. Zdeno Ciger, who signed the petition against Nemecek, also gives in.
In August he accepted the post of national coach, partly because "he liked the way the association's leadership was now trying to make compromises." However, the group around Handzus remained firm. At the beginning of September they made it clear that 52 players would continue to boycott the national team as long as their demands were not met.
But now this front is crumbling. Roman Kukumberg and Tomas Marcinko are two players in the squad for the tournament who are said to have signed the declaration against the association leadership. “Some of these players are now considering ending the boycott,” Ciger added. Nevertheless, the 46-year-old came to Augsburg with a fairly inexperienced team. This is particularly clear in the goalkeeper position. With Samuel Baros and Michal Dzubina, two absolute newcomers were appointed.
"It's risky, but we had no choice," emphasises Svehla. However, one person stands out from the Slovakian squad. With Martin Réway, Ciger's team has a little jewel in its ranks. The 20-year-old impresses with his brilliant stick technique, plays intuitively and unpredictably. But it is often just as difficult for those around him to judge what devil will come next. At his current employer Sparta Prague, he recently complained that he was getting too little ice time. That is why he wanted to leave the club. The reaction was immediate: Réway was banished to the farm team under Benatky. In Augsburg, the enfant terrible now wants to recommend himself to other clubs. And President Nemecek also believes that he is reacting defiantly: "Before the Deutschland Cup In 2011, 18 players dropped out. But in the end we won the pot.”