Kings' star Pavol Demitra appeared in two games for Slovakia, picking up one goal and two assists, during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Slovakia's Demitra looks forward
to his best Olympics yet
By Doug Ward | NHL.com correspondent
Feb. 9, 2006

If you've ever planned the trip of a lifetime, only to have unforeseen circumstances short-circuit the fun before it even began, you know exactly how Pavol Demitra feels about his first two Olympic experiences.

Back in 1998, Demitra was in his second full NHL season with the St. Louis Blues -- and bound for Nagano and a spot on Slovakia's Olympic team. No sooner had Demitra arrived in Nagano than Kazakhstan eliminated Slovakia in the preliminary round. Demitra never even got into a game.

"I flew 18 hours, but didn't play," Demitra says. "It was disappointing."

Four years later, Demitra, by then a rising star with the Blues, had a similar experience as the Slovaks saw their Olympics effectively end before they began. Slovakia again failed to advance from the preliminary pool, losing to Germany, 3-0, tying Latvia, 6-6, and falling to Austria, 3-2. Demitra played in two Olympic games, scoring one goal and picking up two assists.

"It was an interesting experience," Demitra says of his Olympic debut in Salt Lake City. "We didn't do very well, but it was fun to be a part of the Olympic experience."

Demitra, 31, and Team Slovakia will get another shot at the world in Torino, and, as Demitra says, "This time it's going to be totally different."

Playing in the Olympics always is.

"Every single game I try to play my best," Demitra says, "whether I'm playing for Slovakia or even last year during the lockout. But when you're playing for your country, its different."

When you play for Slovakia, the left wing says, you play for everyone in the country.

"Our country is six million people," Demitra says, "and six million people will be watching the games."

With a roster that includes Lubomir Visnovsky, Marian Gaborik, Miroslav Satan, Zdeno Chara, and Marian Hossa, as well as Demitra, Slovakia has remarkable ratio of at least one legitimate hockey star for every million residents.

"Hockey is No. 1 there," Demitra says, explaining his home country's ability to manufacture big hockey talent. "It's huge. Huge. The Olympics will be like Christmas for the people back home. They have been waiting four years for the Olympic Games and the hockey. Finally, they are going to see the best team that Slovakia has put together."

Demitra says the country's fascination with the sport, and its ability to develop big-time players, stems from its days as a part of the former Czechoslovakia.

"In Czechoslovakia, you could practice sports for free," Demitra says. "That was the one good thing about Czechoslovakia. If you were good, everything was free. They gave you four hours of ice time every day. That was good for sports and that's why we have so many good hockey players."

Hockey was both a passion and an obsession for Czechoslovakia, as the country desperately chased after the legendary Russian teams of the sixties, seventies, and eighties. "We had such good coaches and they put so much money into it," Demitra says. "Czechoslovakia, at that time, was unbelievable. I was skating four hours every day and I had great coaches. They built me. Ziggy Palffy and all those other guys got exactly the same thing."

Demitra remains friendly with several Czech Republic players, although the country is Slovakia's biggest rival since the 1993 separation that split the two nations.

The 1993 separation that split Slovakia and the Czech Republic created an intense rivalry between the two countries, but Demitra says many of the players have so much history that they remain friendly.

"I'm proud of Slovakia," Demitra says "but I have experience playing for Czechoslovakia and I have a lot of friends there. But there is a rivalry between the two countries. It's a huge game whenever Czech Republic and Slovakia play. I can only imagine how strong our team would be if we were still together because the Czechs have an unbelievable team."

With Torino, Italy, serving as the host city, Demitra says Slovakians will turn out in large numbers to support their team. "Any time we play in Europe," Demitra says, "you will have a lot of fans from Slovakia at the games. We played the World Championships in Finland; we had two or three thousand people from Slovakia over there. When we played for the Championship, we had like 10,000 there for the game."

Demitra says the Slovakian players should have little trouble coming together as a team. "We know everybody very well. We met in the summer for one day and got to know everyone. But most of us know each other already. I'm from Trencin, and I'd say 65 percent of the team is from that city. All the guys from the National team played in Trencin, so everyone knows everyone. We know who we will play with, so we don't really need a training camp."

One player Demitra believes will be important is his Kings' teammate, Lubomir Visnovsky, who has become one of the NHL's best defensemen. "Lubo was huge eight years ago in Slovakia. Him and Zdeno Chara are the best defensemen we have. He probably was leading the league in Slovakia 10 years ago. He has a great shot and he has great skills."

Demitra has been one of the NHL's most productive players this season, with 20 goals and 31 assists in 46 games. With a game that revolves around speed and skill, Demitra figures to be even tougher on the large ice sheet used in international play. Just don't expect the often-overlooked Demitra to come out of the Olympics with a higher profile. He is a star with a role player's lack of ego. "I don't really like to talk that much," he says, "and I don't like to show my feelings. I like to play, have fun, and do my best."

More often than not, Demitra's best is good enough.