In reading the awesome WJC blog United States of Hockey, Chris Peters speculates that maybe the Slovaks were seeking revenge on USA Forward Jason Zucker for his hit on Martin Stajnoch during the 2010 WJC... In looking at the video of Zucker hit on Stajnoch it appears to be a legal shoulder to shoulder hit, so maybe the Slovaks need to learn how to take a hit and play with in the confines of the rules.
The United States of Hockey --- As a side note, you may recall this hit delivered by Zucker at last year’s World Junior Championship. The U.S. Men’s National Under-18 Team played Slovakia’s under-18 squad in an exhibition prior to last year’s IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Belarus. During that game, it was noticeable that the Slovakian players were out to get Zucker. One of my fellow Team USA staffers quipped, at the time, that the extra attention was perhaps retaliation for the hit at the WJC. Maybe it was, I can’t be certain. However, Martin Marincin delivered a deliberate knee-on-knee hit to Zucker that earned Marincin a major penalty and game misconduct (Here’s that game’s box score). So yeah, there’s a history.There is one thing about hockey if the score is out of hand you can expect the game to get rough, even in international play. I guess if you can't beat the opposition on the score board you start taking liberties against the opposition, last night the USA outshot the Slovaks 22-1 in the first period, so maybe the Slovaks should concentrate on getting pucks on net and playing instead of trying to injury other players. What a bunch of classless hack and they are a disgrace to the game of hockey…
