No one, least of all Slovakia, is under any illusions as to who are the favorites going into Sunday's world hockey championship final against Russia.
"Russia is the big favorite," Slovakia's top scorer Andrej Sekera said in comments on the International Ice Hockey Federation's website.
"But we're the second team standing here," the Buffalo Sabers defenseman said. "I guess everybody was the favorite against us; somehow we managed to deal with it."
Slovakia pulled off a big upset by downing the Czech Republic in Saturday's semifinal, Miroslav Satan's two goals sealing a 3-1 victory.
The team was preparing for a far shorter tournament after losing its first two games against Canada 3-2 and Finland 1-0, but seven consecutive wins including a shock 4-3 playoff victory over Canada have thrust Vladimir Vujtek's team into its third final.
"Nobody expected us to even make the quarterfinals," the San Jose Sharks center Michal Handzus was quoted as saying. "We just kept together as a team. It’s not every year that we can get to the finals."
Slovakia won the tournament in 2002 and came third the following year, but has not finished inside the top ten since sixth place in 2007.
Giving the team added motivation for Sunday's final will be a player notable for his absence.
Captain Pavol Demitra perished in September along with the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl roster, after a plane carrying the team to their KHL season-opener against Dynamo Minsk crashed during just after take-off.
"Obviously, since the tragedy that happened, we know it's not just for us, it's also for Pavol," Slovakia and Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara said.
As if coping with the red-hot Evgeni Malkin, the tournament's top scorer with 10 goals and eight assists, weren't difficult enough, Vujtek has an injury-depleted defense.
Tomas Starotsa of the KHL team Yugra Khanty-Mansiisk was the latest to drop out after the withdrawal of Dynamo Moscow's Dominik Granak and Kristian Kudroc of Sibir Novosibirsk.
"It will be hard to play against Russia for 60 minutes," Vujtek said.
The Slovaks will rely on the experience of 37-year-old forward Miroslav Satan, who was on the ice for the 2002 final victory over Russia, to inspire another giant-killing.
Russia, meanwhile, will be seeking its first gold since 2009, when they beat Canada 2-1 in Berne, Switzerland.
The Russians humiliated the Finns 6-2 in their semifinal with an irrepressible display of attacking hockey led by their NHL stars Malkin and Alex Ovechkin, gaining brutal revenge over a team that dumped the Russians out of last year's semifinal in Bratislava.
