Finland and Slovakia: almost same but very different

[Bruce Granville]

I hope Bratislava gets to host the IIIHF WC on a regular basis, like every other year at least, to boost their hockey developement.
Somehow I think that a lot of Finns would support this.

First a couple of weeks of beer and booze for 1€ and then afterwards sobering up in Vienna with schnitzels and great coffee.

 

[Rcknrollkillnmachine]

Wrong, hockey is without doubt more popular than soccer in Finland.

I second that. Hockey is the national sport of Finland.

 

[Nexon]

Wrong, hockey is without doubt more popular than soccer in Finland.

It’s also more popular than football even in Slovakia, football can dream of reaching such ratings as hockey there.

 

[Nexon]

Were the players product of Czechoslovakia?

This is absolutely the same even with Czech republic, vast majority of best players raised in Czech and Slovakia in last 20 years were product of communist junior system at least few years.

 

[Nexon]

Most of Slovakia's population is not interested in hockey. Especially in the southern regions. The similarity of the two country's population is therefore completely irrelevant.

Pretty hard to believe considering Slovakia had better % than Czech republic.

 

[Nexon]

I believe it's #1 in Latvia actually

It’s definitely nr.1 in Czech Republic too.

 

[NoMessi]

But they participated to WC 2010 and EC 2016. They reached in both tournaments the K.O-Stage. And they have a Top-Star like Hamsik and good players like Duda or Pekarik. Finland never participated in a big torunament and the last Star was Litmanen(Long time ago).

Sami Hyppiä

 

[NyQuil]

It’s definitely nr.1 in Czech Republic too.

What?

I think not.

I think the shift occurred in the early 2000s after the Hasek-led domination ended and Nedved and the Czechs started doing well on the world football stage.

It’s hard to measure these things I grant you. For example, more Canadians play soccer than hockey.

 

[Nexon]

What?

I think not.

Based on what? Number of players? We dont need to discuss it’s way more affordable to play football everywhere in the world so it’s not surprising that in country which once had tradition of World class football there still many kids willing to play?

Do the general public care about football? To some extent yes but it’s not like shops are closing earlier when there is champions football league final how it is when WC is on. Domestic leagues in football except for few clubs are always half empty at best while there are nice averages in hockey extraleague.

 

[czechmate]

Just recently Slovak hockey has suffered another blow. The only Slovak KHL hockey club, HC Slovan Bratislava, had to withdraw from KHL due to bad finances.

 

[Jakk123]

Just recently Slovak hockey has suffered another blow. The only Slovak KHL hockey club, HC Slovan Bratislava, had to withdraw from KHL due to bad finances.

I wouldn't consider this as a blow, I say finally. Slovan playing in the KHL with this kind of a budget was absolutely pointless. They should have returned to Slovak League seasons ago. All they managed to do is create more debts and now it's questionable whether they are actually going to play at Ondrej Nepela Arena, as they owe money not only to the players, but also to the city for the stadium. I consider myself a Slovan fan, but I care less and less about that club. People in the management should be ashamed of themselves. This whole situation also tells you a lot about the KHL, how can they let the club participate for so many seasons when all they do is create debts. Another thing I don't understand is how did they even manage to sign any players for the last couple of seasons. I mean, those players must have heard somewhere that Slovan doesn't pay on time. All those repayment plans... If I was a professional player, I wouldn't even think about signing with that club after all this mess.

 

[kudla]

It’s also more popular than football even in Slovakia, football can dream of reaching such ratings as hockey there.

i have a hard time believing this. If you asked 10 kids what sport do they prefer, soccer would get 7 votes

 

[kudla]

Just recently Slovak hockey has suffered another blow. The only Slovak KHL hockey club, HC Slovan Bratislava, had to withdraw from KHL due to bad finances.

Not a blow. A huge help for slovak hockey

 

[slovakiasnextone]

This is absolutely the same even with Czech republic, vast majority of best players raised in Czech and Slovakia in last 20 years were product of communist junior system at least few years.

Yeah, to add to that, the top Slovak players pretty much all grew up in Slovak clubs, not Czech ones.

It's just that a lot of people who are working in those clubs are still doing the same things as they did 30 years ago even though the sport and the world have shifted around them.

During Satan's inauguration to the IIHF HoF they interviewed his youth coach and he kept going on how you have to teach kids to win from the youngest ages instead of the let kids play nonsense that the current Slovak federation leadership started to bring in for the kids just beginning to play. Never mind that the let kids be kids and let them play mentality is what helped to restart the Swedish and Finnish programs.

 

[Finnswiss]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think football isn't in Finland as popular as ice hockey also due to the climate conditions in Finland. I mean the summers are short in Finland. You have only about 3 may be 4 months good conditions to play football outside and this only in the south and may be in middle Finland if I'm not wrong. Additonally the sun goes down early in automn and in winter anyway. Finland is situated much more in the north so it's also much colder than in Slovakia.
OK in iceland it's about the same but they built there football halls where the players can hold their trainings in a warm place and under dry conditions.
In Slovakia the summers are much longer and it's warmer there because geographically Slovakia is siutated in east central europe. There you can play football from march to october about in the whole country if march isn't too cold.
So it's somehow natural that football is in Slovakia more popular than in Finland.
They have longer summer, higher temperatures and longer days in spring and automn. Football can be played outside from march to october normally if march is not too cold.

 

[Henkka]

Now tell me: Why? Why are there such big differences?

Ever heard about any good Slovakian coach?

 

[RageQuit77]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think football isn't in Finland as popular as ice hockey also due to the climate conditions in Finland. I mean the summers are short in Finland. You have only about 3 may be 4 months good conditions to play football outside and this only in the south and may be in middle Finland if I'm not wrong. Additonally the sun goes down early in automn and in winter anyway. Finland is situated much more in the north so it's also much colder than in Slovakia.
OK in iceland it's about the same but they built there football halls where the players can hold their trainings in a warm place and under dry conditions.
In Slovakia the summers are much longer and it's warmer there because geographically Slovakia is siutated in east central europe. There you can play football from march to october about in the whole country if march isn't too cold.
So it's somehow natural that football is in Slovakia more popular than in Finland.
They have longer summer, higher temperatures and longer days in spring and automn. Football can be played outside from march to october normally if march is not too cold.

March 30th. Rovaniemi, Finland.

Heated fields make it possible play football/soccer even when there are still snow on the ground. First games of the Veikkausliiga season were played on April 3rd and last games will be played September 1st.

Rovaniemi is the most northern home location of Veikkausliiga team.

 

[czechmate]

I wouldn't consider this as a blow, I say finally. Slovan playing in the KHL with this kind of a budget was absolutely pointless. They should have returned to Slovak League seasons ago. All they managed to do is create more debts and now it's questionable whether they are actually going to play at Ondrej Nepela Arena, as they owe money not only to the players, but also to the city for the stadium. I consider myself a Slovan fan, but I care less and less about that club. People in the management should be ashamed of themselves. This whole situation also tells you a lot about the KHL, how can they let the club participate for so many seasons when all they do is create debts. Another thing I don't understand is how did they even manage to sign any players for the last couple of seasons. I mean, those players must have heard somewhere that Slovan doesn't pay on time. All those repayment plans... If I was a professional player, I wouldn't even think about signing with that club after all this mess.

I share your opinion regarding the troubling financial situation and the stagnation due to the caused uncertainty.

However: HC Slovan Bratislava allowed a bunch of Slovak players to compete with players in the 2nd best league of the world (KHL). This enabled Slovak hockey players to play on a highly competitive hockey level on a regular basis. Now with Slovan gone, this benefit is gone. Being able to develop (especially young) players in a KHL organization is a big advantage, because players (even if not skilled enough in the beginning) will adapt to KHL hockey level over time.

The Slovak hockey league surely isn't "bad", but miles away from the leading European leagues. It really is a shame. Same story happened with HC Lev Praha, even if the Czech Extraliga is slightly better off than the Slovak Extraliga.

 

[Outofbodyinhungary]

Based on what? Number of players? We dont need to discuss it’s way more affordable to play football everywhere in the world so it’s not surprising that in country which once had tradition of World class football there still many kids willing to play?

Do the general public care about football? To some extent yes but it’s not like shops are closing earlier when there is champions football league final how it is when WC is on. Domestic leagues in football except for few clubs are always half empty at best while there are nice averages in hockey extraleague.

Football is much more popular in Slovakia than hockey in terms of younger generation. Kids now want to be the next hamsik. Of course, people who never actually talk to slovak youngsters or actually go outside will think hockey is still more popular. And who cares about annual tv ratings? Slovakia beating italy in World Cup in our first World Cup is arguably the greatest Slovak upset in history. Slovakia is producing star players in football at much higher pace than hockey. In fact the hockey program in juniors is somehow becoming worse, after watching some 30 u20 games this year, it’s quite obvious. Zlina is becoming a gold mine for Central European prospects. Younger generation is looking to athletes such as Skriniar, Hamsik, and Lobotka. Even Duda has gained popularity. Now if only Roma could start playing organized football at high percentage...

 

[Finnswiss]

March 30th. Rovaniemi, Finland.

Heated fields make it possible play football/soccer even when there are still snow on the ground. First games of the Veikkausliiga season were played on April 3rd and last games will be played September 1st.

Rovaniemi is the most northern home location of Veikkausliiga team.

Ok thanks for the correction and the nice picture. I should visit once Rovaniemi, I know it's a bit over the polar circle. If I would go between january and march I can see the polar light if I'm lucky.

 

[Outofbodyinhungary]

i have a hard time believing this. If you asked 10 kids what sport do they prefer, soccer would get 7 votes

It’s not true. Boys would be about 7-8/10 and girls would be basically 9-10/10. The youngest generation (under age of 12) remembers event such win over Italy, taking holland to brink in round of 16 and victory over Spain in euro qualifying. They don’t know world championship win, I think the memories is what inspires kids the most in sports. The desire to be the next ____. Kids are really wanting to be the next Richard Panik lol? The interest for hockey is obviously still there but the amount of football jerseys I see kids wearing around is crazy compared to 15 years ago. Demographics should not be ignored though, Hungarians in the south tend to play football almost exclusively. And the Roma are rarely in the representation.

 

[RageQuit77]

Ok thanks for the correction and the nice picture. I should visit once Rovaniemi, I know it's a bit over the polar circle. If I would go between january and march I can see the polar light if I'm lucky.

If you go to Lapland, note that summer is short and can be often very hot, and its coming is rather delayed (spring itself is short and intense) compared to southern parts of Finland. Lapland's summer is during July-August. If you go there during June its possible to take part to traditional Kilpisjärven juhannushiihto- skiing happening, during summer solstice. Sun will shine upon you in the midnight if weather isn't cloudy.

I recommend visit in some National Park.

Cold and dry autumns can make landscape very beautiful during Lapland falls:

If you want see northern lights, then mid winter (December-February) is the best season for that.

 

[Nexon]

Football is much more popular in Slovakia than hockey in terms of younger generation. Kids now want to be the next hamsik. Of course, people who never actually talk to slovak youngsters or actually go outside will think hockey is still more popular. And who cares about annual tv ratings? Slovakia beating italy in World Cup in our first World Cup is arguably the greatest Slovak upset in history. Slovakia is producing star players in football at much higher pace than hockey. In fact the hockey program in juniors is somehow becoming worse, after watching some 30 u20 games this year, it’s quite obvious. Zlina is becoming a gold mine for Central European prospects. Younger generation is looking to athletes such as Skriniar, Hamsik, and Lobotka. Even Duda has gained popularity. Now if only Roma could start playing organized football at high percentage...

If it’s so much more popular how can it be that most watched game during Euro 2016 drew 970k people watching while this “only annual” level drew up to 1,5 million. 5 hockey games this year surpassed that one football game, one on par and last had fewer spectators.

I agree you are not that far from reality as when somebody said hockey is not most popular sport in Czech which is hilarious statement.

 

[Outofbodyinhungary]

If it’s so much more popular how can it be that most watched game during Euro 2016 drew 970k people watching while this “only annual” level drew up to 1,5 million. 5 hockey games this year surpassed that one football game, one on par and last had fewer spectators.

I agree you are not that far from reality as when somebody said hockey is not most popular sport in Czech which is hilarious statement.

Oh yeah I forgot tv numbers are what means popularity... btw all these folks watching hockey, why aren’t there kids playing it than? Why are we relegated from u18 tournament ? Oh yeah I forgot, more 2 week fans who will nod and agree. Somehow it’s worse now, I have a list of many players from Slovak league, most of whom are trash. 2 week fans turn on the hockey tournament and say all is well. Meanwhile they haven’t witnessed the disasters in the u20 league. Somehow it’s actually worse in the u16 league. Skating, skills aren’t important all that matters is numbers.

 

[alko]

It’s also more popular than football even in Slovakia, football can dream of reaching such ratings as hockey there.

TV ratings isnt a great variable. Try to count, how many people playing active football in some sort of leagues. Not only top 3 leagues. But the low level "beer leagues". If im correct , every week it is about 100 000 active players. Every week. Plus another 100 000 + in junior leagues.

Just recently Slovak hockey has suffered another blow. The only Slovak KHL hockey club, HC Slovan Bratislava, had to withdraw from KHL due to bad finances.

On the other side, it could be good for our league. Trust me, in 10 years this will be multinational league with teams from Ukraine, Poland and Hungary. Plus Znojmo, if they change their mind.