What is Slovakia men's national ice hockey team?
The '''[[Slovakia|Slovak]] men's national [[ice hockey]] team''' is one of the best national ice hockey teams in the world. As of 2008, the [[International Ice Hockey Federation]] ([[IIHF]]), the world governing body of ice hockey, ranks them as the eighth best national team. The team is operated by the [[Slovak Ice Hockey Federation]] under general manager [[Peter Bondra]], and head coach Ján Filc. In the last six years, Slovakia has won three medals at the World Championships, including a gold medal in 2002. Slovakia has a total of 12,375 hockey players (0.23% of the population). ==History== The Slovak national team was created after [[Czechoslovakia]] was split into the [[Czech Republic]] and [[Slovakia]]. For years, the Czechs kept control over how the Czechoslovakian national team was run, and limited how many Slovak players were on the team.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} When the country became two, the [[Czech Republic national ice hockey team|Czech Republic team]] was allowed to compete at the highest pool (A), and the IIHF ruled that because fewer players of the former [[Czechoslovak national ice hockey team|Czechoslovak]] team were Slovaks, Slovakia have to start international play in pool C, the lowest group. However, Slovakia's play in the lower pools won it promotion to pool A by 1996. ==Olympic record== <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:41AGE5YT81L SS500 .jpg|thumb||right|2006 Slovak Olympic Jersey]] --> * [[Ice hockey at the 1994 Winter Olympics|1994]] - Finished in 6th place * [[Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics|1998]] - Finished in 10th place * [[Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics|2002]] - Finished in 13th place * [[Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics|2006]] - Finished in 5th place [[Slovak ice hockey team at 2006 Winter Olympics|(see roster)]] * [[Ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics|2010]] - Finished in 4th place ==World Cup record== *[[1996 World Cup of Hockey|1996]] - Did not qualify *[[2004 World Cup of Hockey|2004]] - Lost in quarter-finals ==World Championship recor