Slovakia
Craig Ramsey’s men are clear favorites in our qualifying group. Only three group winners advance to the Olympics. Slovakia will open the qualifying battles with a match against unpleasant Austria. Our representatives will meet Hungary on Friday and Kazakhstan on Sunday. I firmly believe that the Slovaks will manage their matches and will succeed in advancing to the Olympics. Slovakia did not play a single warm-up match before the qualification.
Austria
Our western neighbors are grinding their teeth for progress. They have a very decent squad with several players from the NHL. However, they should not be underestimated. Austria played two warm-up matches before qualifying. They both played against Slovenia and both managed to win.
Preliminary matches of Austria.
Slovenia : Austria 1:2 after raids
Austria : Slovenia 2:1
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
