Calgary 2024: Get to Know Slovakia 

The 2024 World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool will take place from 4-12 May at WinSport Arenas in Calgary, Canada. The event will feature the top eight teams in the world: USA, Canada, Czechia, China, South Korea, Italy, Japan, and Slovakia.

The tournament will be played in a round-robin format with the teams split into two groups, followed by the playoff round, culminating with the gold-medal game on 12 May.

Background

Having produced several NHL stars, Slovakia is one of the most hockey obsessed countries in the world and now continues to gain ground on the Para side of the sport. This will be the nation’s second appearance in the A-Pool after finishing in eighth place in its debut in 2021.

Slovakia claimed four medals from the B-Pool event, including most recently a silver medal from 2023. The team now has Paralympic experience under its belt, having competed at the Beijing 2022 Games, and will be looking to return to the Paralympic stage in 2026.

World Championships History

2023: Silver (B-Pool)
2021: 8th place (A-Pool)
2019: Silver (B-Pool)
2016: Bronze (B-Pool)
2015: Bronze (B-Pool)

Athlete to Watch

Martin Joppa is absolutely electric on the ice and one of the rising starts in the sport as a 26-year-old forward. He was named Best Forward at last year’s World Championships B-Pool, leading all tournament skaters in scoring with 12 goals and 12 assists, as Slovakia won four games in five days.

Matchup to Watch

This game will feature the two fastest growing teams in the A-Pool that did not even exist two decades ago as programmes. While there are many familiar faces and names in the A-Pool, if you are looking to learn about future stars in the sport, this is your game to tune into.