Nela Lopušanová

Nela Lopušanová (born 26 February 2008) is a Slovak ice hockey player, a winger, currently playing in the under-19 Mid-Atlantic Women's Hockey League league, with the U19 team of Bishop Kearney Selects. She gained the attention of the international ice hockey community at age fourteen with her remarkable performance at the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship, which included scoring the first Michigan goal at an IIHF women's event.[1]

Nela Lopušanová
Born (2008-02-26) 26 February 2008
Žilina, Slovakia
Height 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 66 kg (146 lb; 10 st 6 lb)
Position Wing
Shoots Left
19U-AAA team
Former teams		 Bishop Kearney Selects
VLCI Žilina U16
MsHKM Žilina
Playing career 2022–present
Medal record
Representing  Slovakia
Women's ball hockey
World Championship
Bronze medal – third place2022 Canada
Women's ice hockey
European Youth Olympic Festival
Silver medal – second place2023 Italy

Lopušanová also plays elite ball hockey and is a member of the Slovak women's national ball hockey team.

Ice hockey career

Lopušanová began figure skating on an outdoor pond at the age of two and started playing ice hockey before her fifth birthday.[2] At the age of four, she attended a World Girls Ice Hockey Weekend hosted by the IIHF, prompting her to join a club team.[3] She developed with MsHKM Žilina, the minor and junior affiliate of VLCI Žilina, in her hometown of Žilina.[4]

At age thirteen, she made her senior league debut as a left winger with MsHKM Žilina ženy in the 2021–22 season of the Extraliga žien.[5] Though she played just six games during the season, she ranked third in the Extraliga žien for scoring, amassing a staggering 25 goals and 15 assists for 40 points, and recorded a league-leading average of 6.67 points per game. In addition to playing with MsHKM Žilina ženy, she also played as a centre with the men's U16 team of MHK Dolný Kubín in the Liga kadetov (renamed Liga starších žiakov AA in 2022) during the 2021–22 season. Across three games with MHK Dolný Kubín U16, she scored a goal and 2 assists for a point-per-game pace.[6]

In the 2022–23 campaign, she continued to build on her incredible scoring from the previous season. She ranked fifth in the Extraliga žien and second of all MsHKM Žilina ženy players in scoring with 28 goals and 21 assists for 49 points after playing in just eight games of the 22 game season. In the final game of the session against Ice Dream Košice, she contributed to her team's landslide 24–1 win with 10 goals and 9 assists.[7][8] Concurrently, she scored 18 goals and tallied 25 assists across fourteen games as a centre with VLCI Žilina U16 in the Liga starších žiakov AA, ranking second on the team for points.[9] Her 43 points ranked twenty-second in the Liga starších žiakov AA, though she played five fewer games than any higher ranking player, and her 3.07 points per game ranked first in the league among players playing more than ten games.[4][10]

Her stellar performance led VLCI Žilina youth coach Jakub Kubiš to dub her "a wunderkind of the kind that is born only once per century."[11]

In April 2023, Lopušanová was announced as a finalist for the Piotr Nurowski Best Young European Athlete Prize, awarded by the European Olympic Committees.[12] On 12 May, she won the award with over 40% of the votes.[13] She was also named to the Forbes Slovakia 30 under 30 list in 2023.[14]

International play

Ice hockey

Lopušanová debuted with the Slovak national under-18 team at the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship in Östersund, Sweden. At just fourteen years of age, she was among the youngest players at the tournament – only seven other players were born in 2008 and three of the seven were her teammates (Lenka Karkošková, Alica Juríková, and Lívia Nogová).[15]

In Slovakia’s first game, she scored two goals and notched an assist against Japan to lead all skaters in scoring at the conclusion of games played on the opening day of the tournament.[16] Having grabbed international media attention in her first game, Lopušanová followed it up with "one of the most dominant performances ever seen by a player her age" in Slovakia’s game against Switzerland, scoring a hat-trick and an assist in the eventual 4–1 win.[17][18] She scored a goal and notched an assist in the third game against Czechia.[19] In the quarterfinal game against Sweden, she became the first player to score a Michigan goal at a women's IIHF event, recording Slovakia's sole goal of the game.[20][21]

With nine goals and twelve points, Lopušanová was the top point producer of the tournament. In recognition of her astonishing debut, the tournament directorate selected her as Best Forward and she was named a Media All Star as well as tournament MVP by the press, despite Slovakia's sixth-place finish.[1]

During the Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2023 edition of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), Lopušanová again led the tournament in scoring, propelling Slovakia to a silver medal.[22]

In 2023, Lopušanová moved to the US to play with the Bishop Kearney Selects under-19 team. She impressed immediately, scoring 13 goals in the first 13 games.[23]

Ball hockey

Lopušanová also plays elite ball hockey and made her debut with the Slovak national team at the 2022 Ball Hockey World Championship, at which Slovakia claimed the bronze medal.[24] She led all Slovak players with 10 points in seven games, including three game winning goals and a hat-trick, and was named a tournament All Star.[8]

Personal life

Lopušanová was born on 26 February 2008 in the Strážov district of Žilina, Slovakia[25] to parents Jozef Lopušan and Slávka Lopušanová. Her older brother, Šimon Lopušan (born 2002), is also an ice hockey player, a right winger, who plays with the men's senior team of Vlci Žilina in the Slovenská hokejová liga.[4][26]

A self-proclaimed "hockey fanatic," she devotes nearly all her free time to the game.[27] She wears number 88 on her jersey following the example of her hockey idol Patrick Kane.[28]

Lopušanová has indicated she would like to attend university in North America and play in the NCAA.[2]

In March 2023, it was announced she will begin attending Bishop Kearney High School in Irondequoit, New York and playing with the Bishop Kearney Selects women's under-19 ice hockey team in August 2023.[29][30] Her family revealed they received multiple offers before deciding on Bishop Kearney.[31]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeague GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
2021–22MHK Dolný Kubín U16Liga kadetov 31230 –––––
2021–22MsHKM ŽilinaExtraliga žien 62515404 –––––
2022–23Vlci Žilina U16Liga starších žiakov AA 131825436 –––––
2022–23MsHKM ŽilinaExtraliga žien 82821498 –––––
Liga starších žiakov AA totals 161927466 –––––
Extraliga žien totals 1453368912 –––––

Source: Hockey Slovakia[32]

International
YearTeamEventResult   GPGAPtsPIM
2023Slovakia U18WW186th 593122
2023Slovakia U16EYOF2nd place, silver medalist(s) 466126

Awards and honors

Ice hockey
Award Year
International
World U18 Best Forward 2023[33]
World U18 MVP 2023[34]
World U18 All-Star Team 2023[34]
EYOF Silver Medal 2023[35]
EYOF Best Forward 2023[36]
Piotr Nurowski Best Young European Athlete Prize 2023[13]

Ball hockey
Award Year
International
World Championship Bronze Medal 2022[37]
World Championship All-Star Team 2022[38]

References
  1. Pakarinen, Risto (15 January 2023). "Nela Lopusanova MVP". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  2. Brown, Erin (15 January 2023). "Meet Nela". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  3. Salvian, Hailey (25 January 2023). "Get to know 14-year-old Nela Lopušanová: She's setting the hockey world on fire". The Athletic. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  4. Čop, Šimon; Fotta, Patrik (11 January 2023). "Talentovanejšia ako Slafkovský? Za Slovensko hrá 14-ročný zjav, namiesto bábik mala hokejku". SME (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  5. "Súťaže a štatistiky: Extraliga žien – LOPUŠANOVÁ, Nela". Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  6. "Súťaže a štatistiky: Liga kadetov – LOPUŠANOVÁ, Nela". Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. 2021. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  7. "Nela Lopušanová oslávila 15. narodeniny 19 bodmi v jedinom zápase!". Šport.sk (in Slovak). 27 February 2023. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  8. Holmyard, Braydon (12 January 2023). "This 14-year-old from Slovakia has taken over the women's under-18 hockey championship". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  9. "Súťaže a štatistiky: Liga starších žiakov AA – LOPUŠANOVÁ, Nela". Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. 2023. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  10. Smitheram, Ryan (13 January 2023). "2022 1st overall pick currently having his points per game record in Slovakia destroyed by a 14-year-old female player". Maple Leafs Insider. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  11. Mináriková, Romana (12 January 2023). "Talent, ktorý sa zrodí raz za sto rokov. Hokejový svet očarila iba štrnásťročná Slovenka Nela Lopušanová". Dobré noviny (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
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  15. "WJC-18 (W) Stats 2022-2023 > YoB: 2008". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
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  17. Kennedy, Ian (9 January 2023). "Women's U-18 Worlds Day 2: Top Players Shine in Victories". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  18. Brown, Erin (9 January 2023). "Nela's night". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  19. Kennedy, Ian (11 January 2023). "Women's U-18 Worlds Day 3: Canada and Czechia Top Groups". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  20. Kennedy, Ian (12 January 2023). "Meet Nela Lopusanova, the 14-year old phenom dominating the women's U18s". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  21. Kalnický, Róbert (12 January 2023). "Famózna Lopušanová. Proti Švédsku predviedla Michigan gól". Šport7 (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  22. "Friiuli Venezia Giulia EYOF 2023 – Eissportarena, Ice Hockey, Girls – Scoring Leaders" (PDF). Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2023. 27 January 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
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  25. Prosnan, Martin (17 January 2023). "Lopušanová bola malý prívesok veľkého brata. Keby ste videli tie dobité steny, spomína mama". Športweb.sk (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  26. Na love - netradične o MS žien U18 so Šimonom Lopušanom (Video interview) (in Slovak). Žilina: Vlci Žilina. 10 January 2023. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via YouTube. Zatiaľ čo mladý útočník Šimon Lopušan oblieka dres Vlkov v TIPOS Slovenskej hokejovej lige, jeho mladšia sestra Nela momentálne žiari na medzinárodnom ľade Majstrovstiev sveta žien do 18 rokov v ľadovom hokeji.
  27. Vnuk, Juraj (9 February 2023). "Nela Lopušanová: Mojím cieľom je vyštudovať univerzitu a potom uvidíme, čo život prinesie". Žilinský večerník (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
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  31. Matijek, Peter (8 May 2023). "Pätnásťročná do Ameriky: slovenská hokejistka odchádza do svetového dievčenského tímu". Forbes (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
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