It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Simon Nemec. He played his last AHL game of the season on 6 May when his Utica Comets were eliminated from the playoffs. He was then called up to the New Jersey Devils but never actually played or practiced with the big club, and a few days later they were done too. By Monday, he was playing for Slovakia against Canada in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, two days after arriving in Riga.
“We practiced in Utica maybe four more days after the season,” Nemec explained. “Then I flew to New Jersey the day of Game 5 and the next day I flew here. It was a little bit crazy but that’s hockey.”
After having Tuesday off, he said after practice on Wednesday: “I feel good. A little bit of jetlag but I think every day is better and better.”
If Nemec was jetlagged during Monday’s game, it didn’t show. The 19-year-old defenceman led the entire team with 23:21 of ice time, played on the top power-play unit, was engaged physically and got involved in a little trash-talking with Canadian players.
“It's Canada – they’re not going to just let it go,” Nemec told journalists after Monday’s game. “I certainly expected it.”
On the topic of trash-talking, he said, “Canada is very good at this, we aren’t so much, but we still gave it back to them pretty good. Nonetheless, Craig (Ramsay, Slovakia’s head coach) calmed us down because enough was enough.”
Nemec was also selected a shooter in the seventh round of the shootout, which Slovakia eventually lost.
“Craig looked at me, and I wanted to go,” said Nemec. “It’s usually a craps shoot. If I’d scored, I’d have probably dived head first into the players’ bench,” he smiled.
“He’s a guy that can take a lot of ice time, which relieves some of the pressure on our other defencemen and he can carry the puck,” said Ramsay. “He’s got a great head for the game. We’ve got a guy back there that can help on the power play and is good at both ends of the rink, so it’s a big addition to the team.”
Ramsay knows what Nemec can do as well as anyone, as they’ve been involved in a lot of hockey together over the past few years, starting with Nemec’s World Championship debut here in Riga two years ago as a 17-year-old.
“Well, he was great then,” Ramsay said when asked how Nemec’s game has evolved. “He’s a smarter player; he’s seen a lot of hockey since then. He’s learned to play better without the puck and he’s still got that talent when he’s got the puck.”
“That was a tough tournament,” Nemec recalled. “It’s nicer now because we can walk outside and see how nice Riga is. But we’re here to play hockey and that part hasn’t changed.”
Nemec registered an assist 3:53 into his first game – a 5-2 win over Belarus – which, at 17 years and three months, made him the youngest player to register a point at the World Championships in ages.
“It was my first game and got my first point, and that was great, but still, I was a kid,” said Nemec. “Now I feel like a man and it’s so different.”
Since then, Nemec won an Olympic bronze medal last year in Beijing and played in another World Championship last year in Finland under Ramsay. He was also drafted second overall in the NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey and went overseas to play hockey.
He’s also become more of a goal scorer. In the 2021/22 season – his last with HK Nitra in Slovakia – he scored once in 39 regular-season games but then lit the lamp five times in 19 playoff games. This past season in Utica, he scored 12 goals in 65 regular-season games, which led all defenders in the league under the age of 21.
“I played with Bauer sticks in Nitra and I changed to CCM this year,” he said with a smile on his face. “Maybe.”
Searching for a better explanation, he theorized: “The rink is smaller so I think when I shoot the puck, there’s a bigger chance to score a goal.”
Finally, he said, “I don’t know why, exactly, but last season one goal, this season 12… That’s great.”
Nemec’s scoring touch didn’t translate into a shootout goal against Canada, but it might come in handy on Thursday against Switzerland, a team that has yet to concede a goal in its first three games. Nemec, however, isn’t worried about how his team stacks up against the Swiss or anybody else.
“I think we’re a hardworking team and we can beat any team in this tournament,” he said. “We showed how we can play against Canada and I think we’re a great team.”