Nela Lopusanova, the 'once in a century' Slovakian teen taking ice hockey by storm

Nela Lopusanova is just 15 years old but is wise beyond her years on the ice. Hailing from Zilina in her home country of Slovakia, she finds herself in Rochester, New York with the world of ice hockey at her feet.

Nela Lopusanova was learning to figure skate by the time she was just two, with ice hockey following just two years later.

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Following a trip to watch a World Girls Ice Hockey Weekend, Lopusanova was encouraged to join a team and play organized hockey for the first time.

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Aged just 13, the precocious youngster made her debut for the senior team at her club, MsHKM Žilina ženy where she set the league on fire finishing third in the scoring charts despite playing only six games. Her final stats included 25 goals and 15 assists, again, in just six games!

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Whilst playing for MsHKM Žilina ženy, Lopusonova was also strutting her stuff for the u-16s MHK Dolný Kubín boys team where she would more than hold her own, averaging a point per game.

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The 2022-23 season saw the hockey prodigy continue her rise to the top with some impressive showings for the MsHKM Žilina ženy senior side. Playing in just eight games of a 22-game season, Lupusanova scored an impressive 49 points, including a 10-point, nine-assist game in a 24-1 drubbing to round out the season.

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Whilst playing against boys multiple years older than her, Lopusanova impressed her coach so much he would go on to say: “a wunderkind of the kind that is born only once per century.” Certainly a sign of things to come.

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It is no surprise that Lopusonova drew the attention of the Slovakian international setup, and by early 2023, she was selected to play in the IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship, held in Sweden.

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It is also not surprising that, at just 14, she was one of the youngest players at the tournament. Despite that she impressed, scoring and assisting goals for fun, this drew The Hockey News’ Ian Kennedy to describe her performance against Switzerland as: “one of the most dominant performances ever seen by a player her age”.

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For those not in the know, a “Michigan”, named after Mike Legg whilst he was at Michigan University, is a move that requires a great deal of skill. It involves raising the puck onto the stick and shooting it, almost lacrosse-style, into the net. At the U18s, Lopusonova became the first woman to accomplish such a feat.

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Given her prowess at the tournament, it is no surprise that Lopusonova was named the MVP, despite her team’s sixth-place finish. She finished the tournament as the top point scorer with nine goals and 12 assists.

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Despite the devotion to the sport elsewhere, North America remains the hotbed for hockey, so it only makes sense for someone of Lopusonova’s talent to make the move in an attempt to advance her career as quickly as possible.

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This led the Slovakian wunderkind to Rochester, New York, and to Bishop Kearney High School and its Selects program, almost an accelerator for up-and-coming girls' hockey talents.

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Lopusonova idolizes Patrick Kane, even wearing his famous 88 shirt as an homage, so when John Wawrow of the Associated Press informed her Rochester was just an hour from Kane’s hometown of Buffalo, she reacted as any excited teen would with a simple, “that’s cool”.

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Speaking to the Associated Press, Lopusonova, when asked about her move said: “It was my dream and I was really working hard on that. I was hoping that I would be here. And now I’m here. It’s a really good feeling for me.”

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The Slovakian hockey phenom is destined for stardom, but first, she wants to dominate at the high school level before eventually playing for the Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA. From there, the ice hockey world will be at her feet.

Image credit: @nela_lopusanova Instagram