The New York Islanders are not allowing 37-year-old defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky to represent Slovakia at the Winter Olympics, and Otto Sykora, the general manager is not happy about the decision.
Visnovsky had missed over two months and 46 games with a concussion, but he was recently cleared to play and has played the last five regular season games for the Islanders. In four of those five games he logged over 20 minutes of ice time, and was over 19 minutes in the fifth game. Despite that, Islanders general manager Garth Snow has refused to allow his defenceman to join the Slovakian team in Sochi.
Visnovsky has represented Slovakia at the Winter Olympics in 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010.
“If it’s possible he can play and he says he’s okay, he can play, I really don’t understand why he not can play,” Sykora said at Slovak Point in the Adler train station.
“If he is injured, we accept this. If he say he’s not injured and he can play and (Snow) say we don’t let him go, we don’t understand this.”
“For Lubomir Visnovsky this is last chance to play for national team,” said Sykora. “If he not play, it’s not good for him. He is same than Zdeno Chara and Visnovsky, big here in Slovakia.”
Sykora indicated that he would reach out to Snow in an attempt to get the Isles GM to change his mind on that decision, but despite speaking to Snow on Saturday, he could not change the result.
“We just don’t feel comfortable letting him go,” Snow told Newsday.
Snow first stated that he wouldn’t let Visnovsky play in the games more than a month ago, even before Visnovsky returned to the Isles lineup.
“As much as Lubo would like to represent his country and participate in the Olympics, our doctors and I are not comfortable with him going to play,” Snow said last month.
Visnovsky has played 13 games this season and has one goal and three assists. Last season, he put up three goals and 14 points in 35 games, in his first season with the club.
The Slovakian team also lost Marian Gaborik as he has not yet recovered from a broken collarbone. The losses are big for a country that has just 13 active NHL players.
