Stankoven's family in Slovakia rooting for him, Stars in Stanley Cup Playoffs

Logan Stankoven has never been to Slovakia. He can't speak the language and has never met any of his relatives in Europe.

But the 21-year-old Dallas Stars forward, who was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, not only has his own fan club in the European nation, he also has a relative who plays hockey.

That relative is Matej Stankoven, a 16-year-old who, four years ago saw there was a hockey player with Kamloops of the Western Hockey League with the same last name and reached out on social media.

"Matej messaged me a while ago, a few years ago just kind of out of the blue," Logan told NHL.com. "Obviously I recognized him by his last name. We started chatting and we don't know exactly how we are related just yet but it's pretty cool that he plays hockey over there.

"I know he played at the Youth Olympic Games, so that was pretty cool he got to represent Slovakia. It would be cool for him, for us to be playing in the same league, to be playing in the NHL someday together."

For now, the Stankovens in Slovakia are pulling for Logan and the Stars to continue their quest in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Entering Game 6 of the Western Conference Final against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, MAX, TVAS, SN), Dallas is two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final.

Logan has Slovak roots as his grandfather's family came to Canada from a small village, Liptovské Revúce in Slovakia in the early 1900s.

"My grandfather was not born in Slovakia, but his family was," Logan said. "I believe they moved to Enderby, British Columbia before he was born. My dad had told me when I was younger. But I haven't met anybody yet, I haven't been over there yet."

Stankoven played 24 games for Dallas in the regular season, his first in the NHL, and had 14 points (six goals, eight assists). He has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 18 playoff games.

"We've followed Logan since when he was representing Canada on a youth level and in Kamloops," Matej told NHL.com. "Now when he is playing for Dallas, it is much easier for us to watch his games."

Matej has been the scoring leader of Slovan in the Slovak midget league this season with 36 goals and 79 points in 44 games; he was second on the team with 43 assists. It's not hard to see why he wanted to share his stats with his relative who is currently playing in the postseason.

"We've been touching base about once a month," Logan said. "Just kind of checking in on each other. He is messaging me and asking how I am doing and sometimes I message him how his season is going and that stuff. But I never heard him speak Slovak at all. It was all just English."

Logan is five years older than Matej, but their birthdays are two days apart: Logan was born on February 26, 2003, while Matej on February 28, 2008. Because of the age gap, they never met in any international competition, but hope to meet in the future in Slovakia, where Matej's family wants to invite their Canadian relatives.

"We would create a family environment for him and his family here, show him Bratislava and definitely our native village where our families all come from," Matej's dad, Radoslav Stankoven said. "Our whole family cheers for Logan and we all wish the Stars will make it to the (Stanley Cup) Final. Logan is a humble guy with good manners; he is one of the most decent players on the ice. That is a similarity between him and Matej."

When watching the Western Conference Final, Matej is obviously rooting for Logan as well. Yet there is a slight exception.

"I have only one problem with it," Matej said. "At this time, he is playing against Connor McDavid, who has been my idol. That makes it hard for me to decide."