2022 NHL Draft, Day 1: Slovakia makes history
The tiny, hockey-mad country did something in Day 1 that Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic have never done - have the top two picks in an NHL draft
MONTREAL – It cannot be stressed enough how impressive it is that the tiny, proud, hockey-mad country of Slovakia produced the top two picks in the NHL draft, with talented left winger Juraj Slafkovsky going first overall to the Montreal Canadiens and defenseman Simon Nemec going to the New Jersey Devils. “This is a great moment for Slovakian hockey,” Slafkovsky said shortly after the Canadiens shocked the hockey world by picking him. “We really needed this. I’m so happy.”
Think about this. What Slovakia did Thursday night in the first round is something a country other than Canada has only done twice in NHL history. Russia had the No. 1 and 2 picks in 2004 when Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin went back-to-back, then USA matched the feat when Patrick Kane and James van Riemsdyk went 1-2 three years later. Finland has never done it. Sweden hasn’t done it. Its bigger brother to the west, the Czech Republic, hasn’t done it.
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