Slovakian goalie Simon Latkoczy rips the IIHF to shreds over poorly planned World Juniors
Yesterday, the IIHF cancelled the World Junior Hockey Championship due to the threat of rising cases of COVID-19 and a series of forced forfeits that stemmed from it. The tournament being cancelled is disappointing for both fans and players and there is the feeling of a void going in the air going into the New Year knowing that the World Juniors will not happen.
Slovakian goalie Simon Latkoczy, who is a 19-year-old and in his last year of World Junior eligibility slammed the IIHF on Instagram calling the World Juniors "a joke" after his opportunity to represent his country was cut short due to poor planning. You can see his full rant here:
This was the last chance for 19-year-olds like Latkoczy to represent their country at the U20 level. The IIHF ruined this chance for a lot of these players and all those involved because of their decision to not play the tournament in a bubble, like they did last year. A lot of players and staff had to sacrifice spending the holidays away from their families in a foreign country to play in this tournament, and it was all for nothing.
By not bubbling the teams, the players were in a hotel with the general population and there was also a wedding at the hotel players stayed at in Red Deer. Not having a bubble lead to greater risk of players catching COVID-19 and the IIHF did 50/50 measures to run the tournament this year.
The majority of the players in the tournament are vaccinated and instead of doing the right thing the IIHF ended the tournament "like it is some pointless couple games for some random guys who spent the holidays in Canada," Latkoczy said.
Latkoczy compared the 2022 World Juniors to a youth hockey tournament because of how it was run. They cancelled a tournament after just 3 days. That's the price that everyone involved had to pay for the shortcomings of the IIHF, in Latkoczy's mind.
The netminder talked about the potential that Team Slovakia had at the WJC this year and his disappointment in both the IIHF and the fact that his international junior hockey career is over.
Shame on the IIHF for cancelling tournaments like the World Juniors and the Women's U18's when more planning could have prevented it. There have been proven ways to ensure these tournaments go on safely in a pandemic but instead they cared more about the revenues than the players that bring in that revenue. Players like Latkoczy deserve better.
