BRATISLAVA – Slovak fans haven’t been spoiled with wins in the last few years, but when opening the Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava, the Slovak national team sent a clear message that it wants this venue to become a fortress in two-and-a-half months.

The main arena of the 2011 IIHF World Championship isn’t finished yet. Construction workers shared the building with fans – although their working area was limited to the two practice rinks for the last few days – the smell of a building that is nearing completion was omnipresent, the concession stands and lounges remained closed and the authorities only permitted 2,000 persons to enter the 10,000-seat venue for a first glimpse at this finishing stage of construction work.

However, the building with its unique shell in red-and-blue Slovak fashion was well visible when approaching the arena that lies only 2.5 kilometres away from the picturesque old town, and the ice was ready to host a first test for both the organizers and the Slovak national team.

It was a test that was balm for the Slovak soul. The country that produced fantastic players such as Miroslav Satan, Marian Gaborik, Lubomir Visnovsky, Zdeno Chara or Marian Hossa – to just name a few – and that won the 2002 IIHF World Championship has had limited success in the last few years.

While the fourth-place finish in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games was a pleasant success, the Slovak national team was on thin ice when it couldn’t count on all its NHL stars. The Slovaks missed the World Championship quarterfinals in three consecutive years and Slovakia hasn’t won a medal in any category since 2003.

The performances in exhibition events during this important season haven’t been full of pleasant surprises either until last week, when the Slovakia Cup was hosted in the brand-new venue that has been impregnable so far, and that the Slovaks want to remain impregnable for as long as possible when the 2011 IIHF World Championship opens on 29th April.

Slovakia opened the tournament with a 4-1 victory against last year’s World Championship host, Germany, while Switzerland won the other semi-final against Belarus, 3-1.

The Slovakia-Switzerland clash for the final game was a match-up between the best-ranked teams at this event and despite few goals scored, both teams showed passionate play with lots of shots and players that were visibly fighting for a chance to represent their nations in the 2011 Worlds in Bratislava and Kosice.

Jan Lasak, who minds the net for Jokerit Helsinki in Finland, was outstanding as the Swiss outshot the Slovaks 57-31, but Lasak kept his team in the game and was the hero in a 2-0 win for the home side.

The game remained scoreless until the Swiss came into penalty trouble in the third period and Richard Zednik opened the scoring with ten minutes left in regulation time when he capitalized on a loose puck in the Swiss crease.

Switzerland tried to come back, but Marcel Hossa scored the 2-0 goal after a side pass from Lubos Bartecko with two minutes left.

It was the first time the Slovak men’s national team won a tournament since the 2006 Deutschland Cup where Slovakia also celebrated a late win against the Swiss. It could be a good omen as the 2006-2007 season was the last time Slovakia reached the quarterfinals.

Belarus finished the Slovakia Cup in third place after defeating Germany 4-2.

Sweden wins LG Hockey Games

Same as Slovakia, Sweden also succeeded on home ice by winning its first event of this season’s Euro Hockey Tour. Of all tournaments it was the LG Hockey Games on home ice in Stockholm where Tre Kronor triumphed with a clean record of three victories.

The Swedes claimed first place in their last game against arch-rival Finland. It was their tightest game of the tournament as Finland outshot Sweden 41-22, and the Swedes had to equalize the score twice before reaching overtime and the shootout. Jan Sandström scored the game-tying goal with two minutes left in regulation time and the Swedes also succeeded in the shootout with Dick Axelsson and Joakim Lindström making use of both of Sweden’s penalty shot attempts while Finland only scored once in three shots.

Daniel Larsson had a strong showing in the Swedish goal. The 25-year-old hasn’t yet had the chance to be in the international spotlight, but since returning to Sweden last summer after having spent two years in the AHL, the former junior international came under the radar for the Swedish national team. He had a strong game with a 95.12% save percentage against Finland, same as Stefan Liv (94.55%), who was in the Swedish net for the other two games.

While beating its neighbour Finland is certainly a nice thing for the Swedes, the way to the tournament win was paved the night before against Russia, who eventually finished in second place.

The Russians seemed to have overslept at the beginning of the game, allowing Sweden 23 shots on goal in the first period and a 4-0 lead after less than eight minutes of play. Vyacheslav Bykov changed his goalkeepers – Mikhail Biryukov, Alexei Volkov, and again Biryukov – but he didn’t find the recipe for his team to do better in a match that ended with a final score of 6-2. It was the second lopsided win for Sweden as the hosts opened the tournament with a 6-1 victory over the Czech Republic that finished in last place behind Finland.

Russia still leads the Euro Hockey Tour standings after three events, but Sweden lowered the gap to a four-point margin.

Denmark, Latvia win EIHC tournaments

Three events were played in another series of tournaments, the European Ice Hockey Challenge, last weekend.

Latvia won the EIHC tournament in Lørenskog, Norway. The Olegs Znaroks-coached squad started the tournament with a surprising loss against the last-ranked of the four teams, Ukraine, but the Latvians eventually ended in first place, hammering Italy 7-1 and edging host Norway in a 5-4 win in the last game of the event.

Latvia led 4-1 midway through the game thanks to their efficient offence and two goals from Andris Dzerins, but the Latvians had to fight until the end to prevent Norway from equalizing.

Italy finished in second place before Ukraine and Norway.

Denmark was another nation that succeeded on home ice. The Danes were the first team to defeat Russia’s newly formed B national team this season. The Russians blanked France 4-0 on the opening day of the Energi Danmark Challenge, but they were stopped one day later by Denmark.

Lasse Lassen and with two goals Nichlas Hardt scored the Danish goals on the power play in a 3-2 win over the Russians.

Hardt, who plays for Swedish second-tier team Malmö, was also the man of the match when Denmark edged France 4-3 in the last game. The 22-year-old scored a hat trick to lead Denmark to a shootout win.

Another event was planned in Puigcerdà, Spain, but as two teams cancelled the trip, it became a two-game series between Spain and Romania. The Romanians won each game with a 7-2 score. Ervin Moldovan was the most successful players for the guests with four goals and one assist.

U.S. juniors succeed in Europe

The United States’ U18 and U17 national teams won their events in Europe.

The U18s participated in a five-nation tournament in the Czech Republic and won all four games. The Americans faced the biggest challenge in their last game against second-placed Finland. Finland gained the lead twice with goals from Markus Hannikainen and Toni Kallela, but Blake Pietila scored two goals to equalize the game at one, and the Americans eventually won 7-4 with more goals in the following periods including a Reid Boucher hat trick.

Also the U17 national team travelled back home with a clean record as it won the Vladimir Dzurilla Tournament against the U18 teams from Germany, Slovakia and Switzerland.

The U.S. started with 5-1 wins against Germany and Switzerland before having their toughest challenge against host Slovakia. The Slovaks outshot the Americans 25-19, but they couldn’t catch up when Cameron Darcy and Ryan Hartman scored two goals within less than three minutes midway through the game for a 2-1 victory.

Mountain Cup in Swiss hands

The Swiss women’s national team won the Mountain Cup it hosted in Romanshorn. The Swiss defeated second-tier nations Austria (6-2) and Norway (4-2) before edging the Chicago Mission women’s team 3-2 in overtime on Sunday.

Sara Benz and Christine Meier had each three goals and six points for the Swiss as did Norway’s Andrea Schielderup.

Switzerland will host the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship for the first time ever in April, in Zurich and Winterthur.

Prior to that two more women’s events are set for later this week with tournaments in Tjörn, Sweden, and in Prievidza, Slovakia.

MARTIN MERK