Chara, Hossa, Halak highlight Slovakia Olympic roster

Tuesday, 01.07.2014 / 9:26 AM

By NHL.com Staff -  / Road to Sochi blog

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Road to Sochi blog
Chara, Hossa, Halak highlight Slovakia Olympic roster

Slovakia again will not be short on star power at the 2014 Sochi Olympics as the country's 25-man roster announced Tuesday includes Zdeno Chara, Marian Hossa and Jaroslav Halak.

The Slovaks were the surprise team four years ago in Vancouver, qualifying for the semifinals and pushing Canada in that round before losing to Finland in the bronze-medal game. Chara, the Boston Bruins captain, will anchor a defense corps that includes NHL veterans Andrej Sekera (Carolina Hurricanes), Andrej Meszaros (Philadelphia Flyers), Lubomir Visnovsky (New York Islanders) and Edmonton Oilers rookie Martin Marincin.

Hossa, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks, has 12 goals and 25 points in 15 games at the Olympics (three tournaments). He leads a group of forwards that includes Marian Gaborik (Columbus Blue Jackets) and a trio of intriguing young NHL players in Tomas Jurco and Tomas Tatar from the Detroit Red Wings and Richard Panik from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Halak, who beat Russia in the preliminary round and Sweden in the quarterfinals four years ago, will be the No. 1 guy in net again if healthy. He has missed a couple of games recently for the St. Louis Blues because of an illness.

Here is the 25-man roster for Slovakia:

Goaltenders: Peter Budaj, Montreal Canadiens; Jaroslav Halak, St. Louis Blues; Jan Laco, Donbass Donetsk (KHL)

Defensemen: Ivan Baranka, Avangard Omsk (RUS); Dominik Granak, Dynamo Moscow (RUS); Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins; Martin Marincin, Edmonton Oilers; Andrej Meszaros, Philadelphia Flyers; Andrej Sekera, Carolina Hurricanes; Michal Sersen, Slovan Bratislava (KHL), Lubomir Visnovsky, New York Islanders

Forwards: Milan Bartovic, Slovan Bratislava (KHL); Marian Gaborik, Columbus Blue Jackets; Michal Handzus, Chicago Blackhawks; Marcel Hossa, Dinamo Riga (KHL); Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks; Tomas Jurco, Detroit Red Wings; Tomas Kopecky, Florida Panthers; Tomas Marcinko, HC Kosice (SVK); Michel Miklik, Slovan Bratislava (KHL); Peter Olvecky, Slovan Bratislava (KHL); Richard Panik, Tampa Bay Lightning; Tomas Surovy, Dynamo Minsk (KHL); Tomas Tatar, Detroit Red Wings; Tomas Zaborsky, Salavat Yulayev Ufa (RUS)

2014 OLYMPICS POLL