WC: Welcome to Slovakia, the host of the 2011 WC- some general info and fun trivia

[Krotak]

Awesome - thanks.

Anyone have any ideas as to things to do in Kosice aside from hockey?

I think this can help you:
http://www.kosice.sk/clanok.asp?file=hokej_sprievodne_podujatia.htm
http://www.kosice.sk/article.asp?id=9289
http://www.kosice.sk/article.asp?id=9287

 

[slovakiasnextone]

I think this can help you:
http://www.kosice.sk/clanok.asp?file=hokej_sprievodne_podujatia.htm
http://www.kosice.sk/article.asp?id=9289
http://www.kosice.sk/article.asp?id=9287

Some info in English about events going on during the WC and what to do in Košice:

http://spectator.sk/articles/view/42453/8/hockey_guide_28_4_8_5_kosice_events.html
http://spectator.sk/articles/view/42452/8/hockey_guide_kosice_nightlife_and_shopping.html
http://spectator.sk/articles/view/42451/8/hockey_guide_kosice_historical_centre.html

Overally they have a pretty good series of articles "Hockey Guide" about the WC in both Bratislava and Košice, just search Hockey Guides or Hockey to get to them, everything is in English....

http://spectator.sk/articles/view/42439/8/hockey_guide_basic_facts_for_tourists.html

This one might be of use to the ones who are planing on travelling here for the WC....

 

[slovakfan*]

Awesome - thanks.

Anyone have any ideas as to things to do in Kosice aside from hockey?

if you want some disco fun - nice girls try JazzClub, Ibiza (biggest but not that big club ), or Retro Club, Vinyl Club - all small local disco bars.

good restaurants - Le Colonial, Camelot, Piano, Kelt, Karzcma Mlyn, Irish Pub(all located on main street), Grill Pub.

You can drink good local beer at local brew house - Golem.
http://www.pivovar-golem.sk/ - bad web but... just ask on direction, everybody in Kosice knows where it is

There is bob sledge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI090ZzO-Vg

near to biggest ZOO in central europe.
http://www.zookosice.sk/?zookosice=polozka&id=3

you can relax in roman spa's - complex with good restaurant and hotel
http://www.spqr.sk/en

hope it helped little bit

 

[Shadowthrone]

Some info in English about events going on during the WC and what to do in Košice:

http://spectator.sk/articles/view/42453/8/hockey_guide_28_4_8_5_kosice_events.html
http://spectator.sk/articles/view/42452/8/hockey_guide_kosice_nightlife_and_shopping.html
http://spectator.sk/articles/view/42451/8/hockey_guide_kosice_historical_centre.html

Overally they have a pretty good series of articles "Hockey Guide" about the WC in both Bratislava and Košice, just search Hockey Guides or Hockey to get to them, everything is in English....

http://spectator.sk/articles/view/42439/8/hockey_guide_basic_facts_for_tourists.html

This one might be of use to the ones who are planing on travelling here for the WC....

Excellent guide

Small Carpathians Wine Route, sounds like fun

 

[JVR]

The bob thingy looks like fun as well

 

[slovakfan*]

Excellent guide

Small Carpathians Wine Route, sounds like fun

so then you might be interested in Tokaj Region near to the Kosice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokaj-Hegyalja

http://www.ostrozovic.sk/article/relax-in-tokaj

 

[Shadowthrone]

That looks like a really nice place, and I've heard of Tokayer before, but me and my friends will just stay in or near Bratislava for about a week.

 

[ModryJazyk]

This is a great thread - I didn't know much about Slovakia and this was very informative.

Few questions for you (or other Slovakian posters here) if you don't mind:
(mostly directed towards men's hockey specifically)
- where would you rank Slovakia right now in hockey? In the top 7. Exact position varies. When team Slovakia has its top guns, they can compete with anyone (see their records in last two Olympics, when they were able to ice all the best players - unlike in Nagano and Salt Lake; they're 2-0 vs both Russia and Sweden last two Olympics)

- what would you say was the height of Slovakia's hockey history? Well our independent history isn't long, so I'll say 2000s and still counting.

- who would you consider the biggest players/heroes/idols in Slovakian hockey (both current and all-time)? Peter Stastny, Peter Bondra, Marian Hossa, Zdeno Chara, Miroslav Satan, Vladimir Dzurilla

- what would you say is the future of Slovakian hockey? We'll get by. We always do. Despite all the catastrophic scenarios, nothing is ever as bad as predicted. The forward crops of our national team are slowly getting older, but our defense will feature guys like Sekera and Meszaros for years to come and if one of Panik, Tatar or Viedensky pans out, we're good.

- there are 8-9k hockey players in Slovakia, but 6.5k are junior players and <2k are men. Does this mean that many kids don't pursue hockey beyond the junior level, or do a lot of them move on to leagues in other countries?
(this is assuming that the numbers relate to how many are playing within the country) I guess so.

- how do the Slovak pro league and junior programs compare to other Euro leagues/programs? Not very well.

That was more than a few questions, I guess this thread has just made me quite curious.

Peter Stastny, Stan Mikita.

 

[Shadowthrone]

Does anybody know if it is allowed to take your beverage to your seat in the arena in Bratislava?

 

[Eisen]

I love Slovakia, beautiful country.

 

[paradeofwolves]

Great thread! This tournament made me look up some stuff on Slovakia then I saw this thread here, could have saved myself some trouble, hahah.

Slovakia looks beaaaautiful. Wow.

 

[Charlie Milles*]

Jamal Demitra?

 

[lukkas]

Does anybody know if it is allowed to take your beverage to your seat in the arena in Bratislava?

No, it's not.

 

[Shadowthrone]

No, it's not.

Thought so, because I have not seen anybody on TV with a beer in hand so far. Not good....

 

[Dr Despair]

Great thread. Would come in handy if I had the time, money and proper friends to make the trip.

Since I'm not that fortunate, I have one general question: How does hockey rank in popularity in Slovakia? Against other sports I mean, especially soccer.

 

[Krotak]

Great thread. Would come in handy if I had the time, money and proper friends to make the trip.

Since I'm not that fortunate, I have one general question: How does hockey rank in popularity in Slovakia? Against other sports I mean, especially soccer.

Well, in terms of popularity I think it's pretty equal between football (soccer) and hockey - number 1. However there's a huge difference in terms of number of athletes. We have only cca 8 000 - 9 000 hockey players and 200 000 - 300 000 football players. Well, football is a cheap sport...

 

[slovakfan*]

Well, in terms of popularity I think it's pretty equal between football (soccer) and hockey - number 1. However there's a huge difference in terms of number of athletes. We have only cca 8 000 - 9 000 hockey players and 200 000 - 300 000 football players. Well, football is a cheap sport...

Are you kidding me???... Soc..what??...

 

[slovakfan*]

Jamal Demitra?

 

[Krotak]

Are you kidding me???... Soc..what??...

You're from Košice, but it's not everywhere all about hockey. When we talk about NTs, then hockey is probably more popular, but that's not all... And I think you remember last WC in South Africa

 

[slovakfan*]

You're from Košice, but it's not everywhere all about hockey. When we talk about NTs, then hockey is probably more popular, but that's not all... And I think you remember last WC in South Africa

yeah.. we won against Italy. and what?

Soccer stadiums are empty. Hockey stadiums are full. That's what I call popularity.

 

[Krotak]

yeah.. we won against Italy. and what?

Soccer stadiums are empty. Hockey stadiums are full. That's what I call popularity.

Friend, average number of spectators in Extraliga is 2000-3000... Come on

 

[slovakfan*]

Friend, average number of spectators in Extraliga is 2000-3000... Come on

I don't care about extraliga

1. HC Košice - 5992 divákov

2. HC Slovan Bratislava - 2996 divákov
3. HK Nitra - 2842 divákov
4. HC 05 Banská Bystrica - 2670 divákov
5. MHC Martin - 2514 divákov
6. HK 36 Skalica - 2455 divákov
7. Dukla Trenčín - 2426 divákov
8. HK Spišská Nová Ves - 2400 divákov
9. HK Poprad - 2070 divákov
10. HKM Zvolen - 1759 divákov
11. MHk 32 Liptovský Mikuláš - 1667 divákov
12. MsHK Žilina - 1151 divákov

In Kosice there is average 6000 of 8000 capacity

ok, but it is all about money, you know...

 

[DekeLikeYouMeanIt]

Wow. These mountains look gorgeous!
Thanks for this.

 

[Krotak]

I think this piece of advice can help to somebody, who want to see a lot of sights in Slovakia in a short time. In my opinion journey by rail from Bratislava to Košice is a good experience. You can respectively see all theese sights and even more:

Bratislavský_hrad

Hrad Čachtice

Hrad Beckov

Trenčiansky hrad

Považský hrad

Hrad Strečno

High Tatras + Liptovská Mara dam

Spišský hrad

RužÃ­n dam

St. Elizabeth cathedral in Košice

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

I would like to add onto this thread, thank you for posting.

I visited Slovakia this past year (I am quite disappointed I am not able to return now to go to the tournament) and it is truly a beautiful country. The people are very nice, Bratislava is a nice modern central European capital with beautiful buildings and a fantastic castle, and the people are all very friendly and helpful...not to mention there is great food also. The people take their hockey very seriously and love the game. A wonderful place to go, and I know I will be going back in the future because I have still got to see Košice and Vysoké Tatry, and I also want to see the castle at Bojnice which is one of the most famous. They have excellent beer there as well, if you go be sure to try the Zlatý Bažant kind, it is one of my favorites in the world.

There are a few other links I want to post that might be of enjoyment to people here:

Slovak rap by Vec/Zverina/Indy/Wich (this is from a promo for NHL 11):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xeku9QEDFE

And of course beautiful women too! Introducing Kristína Peláková (this one's in English and the official song of the IIHF WC tournament):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8adgtueveU

Anyway, of course I am rooting for USA in this tournament but Slovakia is a great place, and I would like them to finish 2nd. Needless to say they have their work cut out for them after the tough losses to the Germans and Russia, but I will be cheering for them throughout the tournament (except if they play USA)