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Juraj Slafkovsky’s comments against Hockey Slovakia: many people agree with him

 Emily Smith
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Juraj Slafkovsky’s comments against Hockey Slovakia: many people agree with him
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot

A few days ago, Arpon Basu published a piece on Juraj Slafkovsky. And in the text, Slaf didn’t shy away from criticizing Hockey Slovakia.

Basically, he said that the people in the program don’t want to win at all costs. In particular, he criticized the federation for “settling” for a bronze medal at the 2022 Olympics.

Obviously, in his eyes, if the NHL had been there, things would have been different.

Slaf understands the impact he’s having in Slovakia, and he knew his words would be echoed. He suspected that criticizing the media’s coverage of him and crying against Hockey Slovakia would get a reaction.

And sure enough, it started a discussion. And basically, we know that the federation ‘s executives took a “Slaf’s too young to understand not to bite the hand that feeds him” approach to the comments.

But how did Slaf react?

Arpon Basu (The Athletic) followed up with Slaf to see what he had to say about the impact of his comments in his native country. You can read the text here:

It’s clear that things have been brewing for the Slovak, who doesn’t want us to stop talking about the subject. He has no intention of apologizing or keeping quiet if he has something to say.

In response to his federation, he mentioned the following:

Apparently I wasn’t respectful of my teammates (by criticizing Hockey Slovakia), but it’s weird because many of them texted me that they agreed with what I said.

A lot of people thanked me for what I said. – Juraj Slafkovsky

The more the situation unfolds, the more I wonder. Is this the kind of guy who’ll be criticizing the Habs once he’s played his last game with the Flannel?

It does beg the question.

After all, if he’s not afraid to stand up like that when something doesn’t suit him (not a problem in my eyes, even if the initial exit is a bit left-field), you’d think it might set a precedent in his mind.

I wonder how the Habs see it. Do Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes like to see their young player go to war with Hockey Slovakia like this? I wonder.

I can’t wait to see whether Slaf, who is the best Slovak hockey player in the world, will be “punished” the next time Hockey Slovakia has to assemble a line-up on the ice.

And I also wonder how he’ll be received in his homeland the next time he sets foot there.


Overtime

– Reminder: although tonight’s game is available on Prime, it will also be on RDS.

– Happy Thanksgiving to all.

– Patrick Roy is focused.

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