Slovakia men's national ice hockey team

The Slovak men's national ice hockey team is one of the best national ice hockey teams in the world.  As of 2008, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the world governing body of ice hockey, ranks them as the eighth best national team. The team is operated by the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation under general manager Peter Bondra, and head coach Ján Filc. In the last six years, Slovakia has won three medals at the World Championships, including a gold medal in 2002. Slovakia has a total of 12,375 hockey players (0.23% of the population).

History
The Slovak national team was created after Czechoslovakia was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For years, the Czechs kept control over how the Czechoslovakian national team was run, and limited how many Slovak players were on the team. When the country became two, the Czech Republic team was allowed to compete at the highest pool (A), and the IIHF ruled that because fewer players of the former Czechoslovak team were Slovaks, Slovakia have to start international play in pool C, the lowest group. However, Slovakia's play in the lower pools won it promotion to pool A by 1996.

Olympic record

 1994 - Finished in 6th place
 1998 - Finished in 10th place
 2002 - Finished in 13th place
 2006 - Finished in 5th place (see roster)
 2010 - Finished in 4th place

World Cup record
1996 - Did not qualify
2004 - Lost in quarter-finals

World Championship record
1994 - Finished in 21st place (winner of the "Pool C")
1995 - Finished in 13th place (winner of the "Pool B")
1996 - Finished in 10th place
1997 - Finished in 9th place
1998 - Finished in 7th place
1999 - Finished in 7th place
2000 - Won silver medal 
2001 - Finished in 7th place
2002 - Won gold medal
2003 - Won bronze medal 
2004 - Finished in 4th place
2005 - Finished in 5th place
2006 - Finished in 8th place
2007 - Finished in 6th place
2008 - Finished in 13th place
2009 - Finished in 10th place

World Championship 2009 Roster
Goaltenders#PlayerDate of BirthClub25Ján LašákApril 10, 1979 Moeller Pardubice31Rastislav StaňaJanuary 10, 1980 Severstal Cherepovets41Jaroslav HalákMay 13, 1985 Montreal Canadiens

Defensemen#PlayerDate of BirthClub6Peter SmrekFebruary 16, 1979 Lasselsberger Plzeň7Ivan BarankaMay 19, 1985 Spartak Moscow12Ivan ŠvarnýOctober 31, 1984 Litvínov15Dominik GraňákJune 11, 1983 Färjestad29René VydarenýMay 6, 1981 České Budějovice43Jaroslav ObšutSeptember 3, 1976 Luleå44Andrej SekeraJune 8, 1986 Buffalo Sabres48Boris ValábikFebruary 14, 1986 Atlanta Thrashers

Forwards#PlayerDate of BirthClub4Jiří BicekDecember 3, 1978 EHC Biel10Milan BartovičApril 9, 1981 Bílí Tygři Liberec14Štefan RužičkaFebruary 17, 1985 Spartak Moscow17Michal MachoJanuary 17, 1982 MHC Martin19Rastislav PavlikovskýMarch 2, 1977 Sibir Novosibirsk20Juraj ŠtefankaJanuary 28, 1976 Vítkovice23Ľuboš Bartečko (C)July 14, 1976 Luleå26Michal Handzuš (A)March 11, 1977 Los Angeles Kings27Ladislav Nagy (A)June 1, 1979 Severstal Cherepovets28Peter Ölvecký May 20, 1985 Minnesota Wild34Tomáš SurovýSeptember 24, 1981 Linköping71Juraj MikúšFebruary 22, 1987 36 Skalica81Marcel HossaOctober 21, 1981 Dinamo Riga92Branko RadivojevičNovember 24, 1980 Spartak Moscow

2002 Gold Medallists

Goalies:
Ján Lašák,
Rastislav Staňa,
Miroslav Šimonovič.

Defensemen: 
Jerguš Bača,
Ladislav Čierny,
Radoslav Hecl,
Richard Lintner,
Dušan Milo,
Peter Smrek,
Martin Štrbák,
Ľubomír Višňovský.

Forwards:
Ľuboš Bartečko,
Peter Bondra,
Michal Handzuš,
Miroslav Hlinka,
Ladislav Nagy,
Vladimír Országh,
Žigmund Pálffy,
Rastislav Pavlikovský,
Róbert Petrovický,
Peter Pucher,
Radovan Somík,
Jozef Stümpel,
Miroslav Šatan,
Róbert Tomík,
Marek Uram.

References
  - from the National Hockey League
   - from Sports Illustrated
  - from International Ice Hockey Federation

Category:Ice hockey in Europe
Category:National ice hockey teams
Category:Sport in Slovakia
Category:Organizations based in Slovakia