Tomakomai 2016: Slovakia team preview

Slovakia could be the surprise team at these Championships. They showed strong efforts against Japan and Germany – an A-Pool team – in October’s Four Nations tournament for a third-place finish. The team made their major international debut at the 2013 Worlds B-Pool and are poised to improve. Two years later and they made it onto the podium for the first time.

Key players

Slovakia will turn to Martin Joppa, who led his team in scoring in their 6-1 victory over Germany at the Four Nations tournament. Defenseman Peter Stit will be a key leader on the ice. Stit carries plenty of experience, having made his international debut in 2011 and being part of the team that took bronze at the World Championships B-Pool four years later.

Roster

Slavomir Ferencik (D)

Erik Fojtik (F)

Marek Gergely (F)

Martin Joppa (F)

Miroslav Kardos (D)

Eduard Lepacek (G)

Marian Ligda (F)

Miroslav Pastucha (G)

Ales Raus (F)

Miroslav Stasak (D)

Peter Stit (D)

Milos Vecerek (F)

The 2016 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships B-Pool will feature Japan, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Great Britain between 28 November – 3 December. The top three teams will progress to the qualification tournament for PyeongChang 2018.

All team previews for the World Championships B-Pool, set to get underway in Tomakomai, Japan, can be viewed at the event website.