From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of Slovakian Constitution Day, we feature Slovakia’s historic first World Championship Gold Medal from 2002, a stunning upset over Russia less than a decade after gaining independence.

🇸🇰 Slovakia 4-3 Russia 🇷🇺
World Championship Gold Medal Game
Scandinavium, Gothenburg 🇸🇪
Saturday, 11 May 2002

To fully understand the impact of Slovakia’s first World Championship gold medal in hockey, we need to rewind. The dissolution of Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993, meant that the Czech Ice Hockey Association took over the position of former Czechoslovakia while Slovakia was considered a “new” hockey nation. As a result, the Slovaks had to start from scratch in the IIHF World Championship program and work their way up through the divisions.
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