 Rookie defenseman Jozef Sladok is featured in this edition of “Breaking the Ice with…” The feature showcases different Whalers so we can get to know them better.
Selected by Plymouth with the 39th pick in the 2006 CHL Import Draft, Sladok played for Slovakia at the 2006 IIHF World Under-18 Hockey Championship in Sweden. Sladok is a fan favorite on the ice for his fighting and aggressiveness and off the ice for his friendliness and approachability. The Zvolen, Slovakia, native took a few minutes after the season to help us break the ice and chat about learning English, not seeing his family for a year, and the nightmare adventure he had getting home.
» On the best advice he has been given…
"Never give up. Things could always be worse."
 » On how he started playing hockey…
"I started to play hockey when I was 6 years old. My parents asked me if I want to try to play hockey and I said yes and my dad took me for my first practice. That's it. I'm still trying."
» On his most memorable game…
"It was last spring on World Championship Under-18. We lost a few games and we were in very hard situation. We had to win last game against Germany because if we would lose, Slovak National Team would play this year in World Championship Under-18 in Pool B, somewhere in Japan. So I won't forget about this game for a while because we were losing 1 to 0 after second period and tied 15 seconds into period and won 2 to 1."
» On his youth hockey highlight…
"I don't remember any big highlights. I hope my game highlights will come soon. I would say for me the highlight was when I was drafted by Whalers because there is not so many Slovak junior players in North America playing, and it wasn't easy to get here."
» On the championships he has won…
“I haven't won any big championships, but I won a lot of tournaments when I was younger.“
 » On his most embarrassing hockey moment…
"I really don't know. Maybe some of my first fights in OHL were pretty embarrassing."
» On who has influenced him in hockey…
“Pretty much my whole family is in sports. My grandpa was a professional soccer player and soccer coach, my dad played hockey and soccer, my brother plays soccer and all of my cousins are also in sport. The biggest influence though are my parents. They came to every home game before here and dad helps me a lot with stuff.“
» On if he has ever played against any of the guys before…
“I played against Michal (Neuvirth) couple times on National Team. I also played against Army (John Armstrong) in World Championship Under-17 in Lethbridge.“
» On playing for Slovakia…
“It was good to represent my country. It was a big experience and I won't forget about that tournament for a while.“
» On the differences between Slovakia and the United States…
“The biggest difference for me is the food. My billet can make me a great meal, and she can also make some Czech food, so that‘s always good. At home I used to eat more and it seems like at home the main meal of the day is lunch and in USA the main meal is dinner. We don‘t have so many fast foods like in USA.“
» On wanting to play hockey in North America…
“I wanted to come here all my hockey life because at home hockey isn’t doing great and hockey in North America is much better. People know how to do their work and at home there are bad rules. You can‘t even fight and if you hit some guy hard, you always get a penalty and I don‘t like that.“
» On learning the language…
“It was fun. I knew some English before I came here, but it wasn‘t a big deal that I didn’t know much because I was learning a lot in locker room and at home. I had to speak only in English all the time, so after while it was fine. The guys in locker room are still making fun of me, but that‘s fine.“
» On not seeing his family all year…
“It was fine. I didn‘t think about that so it was easy for me. I knew what I was going to do and why I came here. I tried to work hard and not think about my family. If I would have thought about how I miss them, it would have been bad. A lot of guys can‘t do it and they go home after few months, but it doesn‘t matter since I could. I have one brother Jakub. He is 21.“
 » On who he tries to model his game after…
“I like players like Todd Bertuzzi, Darren McCarty, Zdeno Chara, Darius Kasparaitis, who can score, play power plays, penalty kills, fight and do all the little things."
» On what he should bring to the team…
“I‘m pretty much a stay at home defenseman, but I like to play as a forward too. I can play penalty kills and maybe I will get a chance to play some power plays too. I just like do all the little things like block shots and fight.“
» On his favorite former Whaler…
“I love fighting and Gino (Pisellini) is a great fighter and player, so I don‘t think there is a guy who wouldn‘t like him as a player.“
» On the toughest player he has played against…
"I don't know who was the toughest player. There wasn't a guy who would make me not sleep before game. I really don't know, but the toughest player to play against I would say is Evan Brophey. It was always hard to handle him during practice."
» On living with billets…
“My billets are great. That‘s fun to live there. They care about me and make me feel like at home with my family, so now they are pretty much my family too.“
» On how he found out he was drafted by the Whalers…
“I was at home and I was watching draft on internet, so I saw that Plymouth drafted me. I didn‘t know anything about Plymouth. After 10 minutes my agent and European scout called me and told me a little bit about Whalers.“
» On his typical day…
“I wake up about 8:30. I get ready and I talk to my parents, then Brett Bellemore picks me up for morning practice because I don‘t go to school anymore. Earlier in the season, I went to school with Michal (Neuvirth) in the morning, but we are done now. Then I go get some food and I have a team practice at 2. After practice I usually work out and then either I walk home or somebody gives me a ride home about 5:30. Then I might stay at home or go out with guys for a bit.“
» On his pre-game routine…
“Nothing special just sleep, eat something, sleep, and get ready for the game.“
» On what he'd be doing if he didn't play hockey…
“I don‘t know. I would do some other sport probably like Kickboxing or UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), but I‘m sure I don‘t want to wake up every day at 7am and go to work. I want to play hockey as long as I can.“
» On his relationship with fans…
“I like little kids and talking to people and fans. I try to be nice to them because they are same people like players or anybody else.“
 » On his relationship with Michal Neuvirth…
“Michal is a great guy, it was always fun with him and I‘m going to miss him. It was good to have someone else adjusting to new things like me. It will be hard without him.“
» On if there is anything behind his jersey number 5…
“There is nothing special behind number 5. I used to like higher numbers, but we are not allowed to have higher than 40. Last two years, I was wearing 25 so then I just took 5.“
» On if he has any superstitions…
“I have a lot of superstitions, but I won‘t say any.“
» On if he has any nicknames…
“Bollsy (Jared Boll) started to call me a Wildman when I came here, but my nickname is Sladz too.“
» On what one thing he could not live without…
“There is nothing like that for me. Health and family are the most important though.“
» On his dream goal…
“Like every guy it would be in Game 7 in Stanley Cup finals against whoever.“
» On his dream vacation…
“I don‘t have any dream vacations. We have more important things in our lives than vacation.“
» On the funniest thing that happened on the road…
“This year was a lot of fun on the roads, but I don‘t remember anything special.“
 » On his funniest teammate…
“I think all our older guys are really funny. I think we are going to miss them.“
» On the person he'd most like to meet…
“I have no idea.“
» On winning the OHL title…
“It was great. That‘s a great feeling to be a part of a team who won the OHL. Memorial Cup was a really good experience too and it was a lot of fun. I won‘t forget about this season.“
» On his trip home…
“It was one of the worst experiences. Michal and I flew to New Jersey and then we had to go by bus to the New York JFK airport. That was the day they found out about the terrorist plot and arrested people. We missed our flight because we had extra bags and some bags were too heavy and we didn‘t have money to pay. We called Natalie (Shaver - Whalers Administrator) to help us, but it was too late. They already closed the gate and they told us that we can‘t go. The lady kept saying we got there late since we had to bus from New Jersey. Hockey player (Jaromir) Jagr was in line after us and he got on plane, but he did not have to pay for so many bags. That is why we missed it, we had no money to pay for anything. Natalie tried to get ahold of us, but we had no phone. She only talked to us when we called her. She had place for us to stay, but we didn't know, so Michal and I were waiting in the hallway for 25 hours for next flight. We couldn‘t do anything because we had 11 bags and our sticks and we had to carry them everywhere. We were sleeping on our towels and bathrobes from Memorial Cup. We looked like we were homeless. People were laughing at us. One old woman throw 50 cents on the towel. Then fortunately we got on our new flight and I got home exactly on my birthday and could celebrate with my family.“
» On what other players he would want on the ice with him…
“Goalie Peter Budaj, defense Libor Ustrnul and forwards Todd Bertuzzi, Jaromir Jagr, and Darren McCarty.“
-Natalie Shaver, June13th, 2007-
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