It was closer than expected for a confident and skilled Slovakian men’s ice hockey squad Tuesday night.
In a playoff game to advance to the quarterfinals Slovakia beat Norway 4-3, but also lost forward Lubos Bartecko to a severe head injury after a cheap blind side elbow by Norway’s Ole-Kristian Tollefsen in the first period.
A pool of blood was visible under the head of Bartecko when he briefly raised his head after falling down. Bartecko’s helmet had fallen off, leaving his head unprotected.
Play was stopped six minutes into the contest so Bartecko could be removed on a stretcher and the blood could be scraped from the ice.
Bartecko, 33, was a member of the Slovakian squad that won the 2002 world championship and the squad which placed fifth at the 2006 Turin Olympics. He spent five seasons in the National Hockey League from 1997 through 2003.
Medical staff rushed onto the ice and Bartecko was taken off the ice on a stretcher and examined by doctors at Canada Hockey Place.
He was transferred to a clinic at the Vancouver athletes’ village where he was listed in stable condition by medical staff, a spokesman for the Slovakian team said in a statement.
The game was scoreless at the time of the incident, however, Slovakia had been carrying the play.
Tollefsen was assessed 25 total penalty minutes for the elbow, including a major penalty that gave the Slovakian team an extended power play.
Michal Handzus opened the scoring one minute into the power play and Marian Gaborik made it 2-0 at 9:48 when he redirected a slap pass from Pavol Demitra at the edge of the crease
While Norway made it 2-1 on a late goal by Mats Zuccarello-Aasen, Richard Zednick replied quickly for his team 46 seconds later to make it 3-1 after the first period. Slovakia outshot Norway 21-2.
Norway rebounded in the second period with Tore Vikingstad scoring his fourth goal of the tournament. And in an unlikely twist, the underdog Norwegians tied the game with one tenth of a second left in the period when Anders Bastiansen, coming off the halfboards, snapped a shot top corner past Jaroslav Halak.
In the third period Slovakia took the lead for good on a goal from Miroslav Satan.
With files from Reuters
One medal is at stake. Twelve teams have qualified for the men’s ice hockey tournament:
Group A: Canada, United States, Switzerland, NorwayGroup B: Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, LatviaGroup C: Sweden, Finland, Belarus, GermanyMen’s hockey games are being played at Canada Hockey Place (GM Place).
The full schedule for both men’s and women’s ice hockey are: (all times are in Pacific Standard Time Zone):
Sat Feb 13, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – SWE vs SUI (Final score 3-0)5pm – 7:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – CAN vs SVK (Final score 18-0)Sun Feb 14, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – USA vs CHN (Final score 12-1)4:30pm – 7pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – FIN vs RUS (Final score 5-1)Mon Feb 15, 2010
2:30pm – 5pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – SUI vs CAN (Final score 1 – 10)7pm – 9:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – SWE vs SVK (Final score 6 – 2)Tue Feb 16, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – USA vs SUI (Final score 3-1)2:30pm – 5pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – RUS vs USA (Final score 0-13)4:30pm – 7pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – CAN vs NOR (Final score 8-0)7pm – 9:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – FIN vs CHN (Final score 2-1)9pm – 11:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – RUS vs LAT (Final score 8-2)Wed Feb 17, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – FIN vs BLR (Final score 5-1)2:30pm – 5pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – CAN vs SWE (Final score 13-1)4:30pm – 7pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – SWE vs GER (Final score 2-0)7pm – 9:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – SVK vs SUI (Final score 2-5)9pm – 11:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – CZE vs SVK (Final score 3-1)Thu Feb 18, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – USA vs NOR (Final score 6-1)2:30pm – 5pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – USA vs FIN (Final score 6-0)4:30pm – 7pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – SUI vs CAN (Final score 2-3)7pm – 9:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – CHN vs RUS (Final score 1-2)9pm – 11:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – SVK vs RUS (Final score 2-1)Fri Feb 19, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – BLR vs SWE (Final score 2-4) 4:30pm – 7pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – CZE vs LAT 9pm – 11:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – FIN vs GER Sat Feb 20, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – NOR vs SUI 2:30pm – 5pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – Playoffs 4:30pm – 7pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – LAT vs SVK 7pm – 9:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – Playoffs 9pm – 11:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – GER vs BLR Sun Feb 21, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – RUS vs CZE 4:40pm – 7:10pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – CAN vs USA 9pm – 11:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – SWE vs FIN Mon Feb 22, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – Semifinals (SF1) 2pm – 4:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – Playoffs 7th & 8th 5pm – 7:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – Semifinals (SF2) 7pm – 9:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – Playoffs 5th & 6th Tue Feb 23, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Qual. Playoffs (QP1) 4:30pm – 7pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Qual. Playoffs (QP2) 7pm – 9:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Qual. Playoffs (QP3) 9pm – 11:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Qual. Playoffs (QP4) Wed Feb 24, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Quarter-final (QF1) 4:30pm – 7pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Quarter-final (QF2) 7pm – 9:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Quarter-final (QF3) 9pm – 11:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Quarter-final (QF4) Thu Feb 25, 2010
11am – 1:30pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – Bronze medal 3:30pm – 6pm Ice Hockey – Women’s – Gold medal Fri Feb 26, 2010
12pm – 2:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Semifinals (SF1) 6:30pm – 9pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Semifinals (SF2) Sat Feb 27, 2010
7pm – 9:30pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Bronze medal Sun Feb 28, 2010
12:15pm – 2:45pm Ice Hockey – Men’s – Gold medal 
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