Lubomir Visnovsky has ‘great memory’ after Slovakia challenges Canada in hockey semifinals

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Slovakia defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, a former King, took his country’s semifinal loss to Canada on Friday stoically.

Visnovsky and his teammates cut Canada’s 3-0 lead to one goal and nearly pulled even with a late push but fell just short.

‘The first 40 minutes we play not bad; just we play with big respect for Canada,’ said Visnovsky, who scored Slovakia’s first goal, at 11:35 of the third period.

‘But the last 10 minutes, after we score the goal, we start to play our style. I don’t know how many chances there were in that last minute. It was very close to tying the game.

‘This is great memory for me and I was here with the best team in the world, the Canadian team, and we play good.’

Playing Finland for the bronze medal Saturday, he said, ‘is a big day for Slovakia.’

-- Helene Elliott in Vancouver, Canada