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CDM: Could Juraj Slafkovsky’s criticism be the reason for his absence?
Michaël Petit
CDM: Could Juraj Slafkovsky’s criticism be the reason for his absence?
Credit: Getty Images
As some of you may have noticed, the World Hockey Championship kicked off today (Friday).

Heineman did very well in his match against Slovakia.

The Slovaks could very well have benefited from the services of Juraj Slafkovsky, but the latter is not taking part in the tournament, which is rather curious.

Earlier today, Maxime Truman wrote an article about Slaf’s and Cole Caufield’s (much-discussed) absences from the CDM.

After saying he won’t be taking part in the Worlds, Slaf says he had a good talk with Miroslav Satan and that Slovakia was correct with his decision, as reported by Eric Engels.

The main interested party obviously turned down Slovakia’s invitation, but there could be more to the story.

Personally, I have my own thoughts on the 6-foot-4-inch colossus’ absence.

Let’s not forget that Slafkovsky openly criticized Slovakia’s media coverage in early October 2024. He described the coverage as toxic…

And that angered his native country.

Did Slaf, because of the comments made during the season, have no desire to represent his country?

Obviously, this is just speculation, but it’s worth asking the question.

This kind of comment can definitely affect the relationship between a player and his country.

Given that the young Slovak participated in last year’s CDM (where he collected eight assists in as many games), it’s rather suspicious that he won’t be there this year.

At just 20 years of age, he was very good and played a big role in the Slovakian team.

This season, even though he’s had his ups and downs and hasn’t had a great start to the season, we’ve seen a nice progression in his game.

He takes much greater advantage of his size and plays with his head (very) high.

When you think about it, there’s always the question of fatigue and possible minor injuries from the season that could be to blame for his absence, but I really get the impression that there’s more to it than that.

Considering the Slovaks’ poor performance against the Swedes (5-0) earlier today, there’s no doubt that Slaf would have been a big help to his country.


Overtime

– I can’t wait to see what the Habs lineup will look like in 2025-26.

– A very good (and beautiful) piece by Stu Cowan on David Savard.

– This is good.

– The American made no friends when he refused to shake hands with the Canadiens’ Mike Malott ahead of UFC 315 (which takes place in Montreal tomorrow).

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