Slovakia men's national ice hockey team

The Slovak national team was formed following the breakup of Czechoslovakia, as the country was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. While the Czechs were allowed to compete at the highest pool (A), the IIHF ruled that because fewer players of the former Czechoslovak team were Slovaks, Slovakia would be required to start international play in Pool C. However, Slovakia's play in the lower pools won it promotion to pool A by 1996. See also Post-Cold War period of the IIHF world championships.

Slovakia's first appearance in an elite ice hockey competition was at 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. With a lineup led by star Peter Šťastný, the Slovaks finished first in their group with three wins and two ties before losing to Russia in overtime in the quarterfinals. In the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano and the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, the Slovak team was unable to use its National Hockey League (NHL) players in the preliminary round due to a scheduling conflict. This affected all of the smaller countries, but devastated the Slovaks as most of their best players were from NHL teams. The NHL only shut down its schedule in time for the second group stage, and thus Slovakia failed to qualify among the final eight teams both times. This turn of events was troubling to the entire hockey community, and the rules were changed for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.

Slovak national team members and notable players have included Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Marián Hossa, Marián Gáborík, Marcel Hossa; Miroslav Šatan; goaltender Jaroslav Halák and the tallest player in NHL history, Zdeno Chára. In the late 1990s, the St. Louis Blues placed Ľuboš Bartečko, Michal Handzuš, and Pavol Demitra on the same line. This trio became known as the "Slovak Pack," and were able to communicate in their native language without the opposition knowing what they were saying, unless, of course, they also understood Slovak.

Following the successful years for the Slovaks in the early 2000s at the World Championship, when they won the silver in St. Petersburg at the 2000 edition after a loss to the Czechs, winning the (so far) only title in Goteburg at the 2002 edition and securing bronze in Helsinki (2003), the results of Slovakia worsened and Slovakia began to drop out in the quarterfinals. The closest Slovakia came to relegation into Division I was in 2008, when they avoided relegation only thanks to two victories over Slovenia in the Relegation Round. Following was a series of three subsequent eliminations in the Qualifying Round (Round of 12), including one at a 2011 edition Slovakia hosted in Bratislava and Košice for the first time, since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

Largely unexpected, however, was Slovakia's silver medal at the 2012 edition, again won in Helsinki. This was the first tournament after the introduction of the new two group format, followed by the quarterfinals. Due to the surprise this medal was after number of unsuccessful tournaments, it was by many regarded as with a value of a triumphal gold. In the following years however, Slovakia again failed to repeat medal successes and even failed to qualify to the quarterfinals, with the exception of 2013.

The following table shows Slovakia's international record from 1940 to 1945 and since 1993, correct as of 8 February 2020. Teams in italics are no longer actively competing.

Source:[10]

Opponent	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Austria	36	28	2	6	144	59	+85
Belarus	35	21	1	13	99	70	+29
Bucharest	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Bulgaria	1	1	0	0	20	0	+20
Canada	52	23	4	25	166	156	+10
Croatia	1	1	0	0	6	1	+5
Czech Republic	65	14	7	44	135	222	−87
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia	1	0	0	1	0	12	−12
Denmark	19	14	0	5	75	37	+38
Finland	35	7	3	25	67	111	−44
Finland olympic	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1
France	33	24	3	6	142	61	+81
Germany	61	33	1	27	151	137	+14
Great Britain	4	4	0	0	27	6	+21
Hungary	8	6	0	2	50	19	+31
Italy	18	13	1	4	75	43	+32
Japan	5	5	0	0	39	12	+27
Kazakhstan	9	7	1	1	42	15	+27
South Korea	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Latvia	28	17	3	8	93	62	+31
Netherlands	2	2	0	0	24	4	+20
Norway	33	23	2	8	116	64	+52
Poland	8	6	1	1	43	16	+27
Romania	4	4	0	0	39	3	+36
Russia	38	10	5	23	91	122	−31
Olympic Athletes from Russia	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1
Russia B	8	3	0	5	21	22	-1
Slovenia	13	10	0	3	49	23	+26
Switzerland	70	28	7	35	168	157	+11
Switzerland B	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Sweden	38	10	3	25	84	127	−43
Sweden Vikings	2	0	0	2	5	8	−3
Ukraine	10	9	1	0	49	18	+31
United States	28	10	3	15	65	91	−26
Wiener EG	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Yugoslavia	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3
Total	666	334	49	282	2083	1666	+417

• Overtime and penalty shots victories and losses are counted towards wins/losses.

• List of players in Slovakia men's national ice hockey team
• Slovak Extraliga

• Official website
• IIHF profile