Slovakia's NHL vets likely key parts of Olympic team

Sunday, 07.21.2013 / 12:00 PM / 2014 Olympics

By Corey Masisak - NHL.com Staff Writer

Share with your Friends


Slovakia's NHL vets likely key parts of Olympic team
Slovakia has yet to medal in hockey at the Olympics since becoming an independent nation in 1993, but the country's fourth-place finish in 2010 was a triumph.

It is official: The NHL, NHL Players' Association and International Ice Hockey Federation have announced there will be NHL players at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Prior to the agreement between the NHL, NHLPA and IIHF, NHL.com had three writers select the team they would take to Sochi for each of the "big seven" hockey-playing nations. Note: This is not the team the writers project each country's hockey federation will select, but the team they would select at this point.

Slovakia has yet to medal in hockey at the Olympics since becoming an independent nation in 1993, but the country's fourth-place finish in 2010 was a triumph. The Slovakians, an aging team with a core expected to be on its last Olympic run together, defeated Russia in the preliminary round, upset Sweden in the quarterfinals, and nearly stunned Canada in the semifinals.

A few key players from the 2010 team no are longer in the NHL but could represent Slovakia in Sochi. The 2014 squad likely will be anchored by its established NHL stars: defenseman Zdeno Chara, forwards Marian Hossa and Marian Gaborik, and goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

The goaltending looks set; all three NHL.com writers have the same three netminders (Halak, Peter Budaj and Jaroslav Janus). There are some safe bets to fill in around Hossa and Gaborik at forward: Michal Handzus, Tomas Kopecky, Richard Panik and former NHL stars Ziggy Palffy and Miroslav Satan.

Where it gets interesting for Slovakia is with its younger players. Will the country's federation select exciting young players Marko Dano, Tomas Jurco and Tomas Tatar to help get a new generation of talent some Olympic experience? Or will the roster be filled out with veterans playing in Europe?

There are a couple of other quality NHL defensemen to supplement Chara, notably Andrej Meszaros and Andrej Sekera. But this team likely will go as far as Chara and Halak can carry it -- and it went further than most people expected in 2010.

Here are the projected rosters for Slovakia:

Projected Slovakia Olympic roster
Corey Masisak Mike Morreale
John Kreiser
FORWARDS
Marko Dano Mario Bliznak Lubos Bartecko
Marian Gaborik Marko Dano Martin Cibak
Michal Handzus Marian Gaborik Marian Gaborik
Marian Hossa Michal Handzus Michal Handzus
Tomas Jurco Marcel Hossa Marcel Hossa
Tomas Kopecky Marian Hossa Marian Hossa
Ziggy Palffy Tomas Jurco Libor Hudacek
Richard Panik Tomas Kopecky Tomas Kopecky
Stefan Ruzicka Milan Kytnar Juraj Mikus
Miroslav Satan Michel Miklil Richard Panik
Tomas Surovy Richard Panik Branko Radivojevic
Tomas Tatar Miroslav Satan Miroslav Satan
Tomas Zaborsky Tomas Tatar Tomas Tatar
DEFENSEMEN
Zdeno Chara Zdeno Chara Ivan Baranka
Dominik Granak Milan Jurcina Zdeno Chara
Milan Jurcina Andrej Meszaros Dominik Granak
Andrej Meszaros Andrej Sekera Milan Jurcina
Branislav Mezei Martin Stajnoch Andrej Meszaros
Andrej Sekera Jan Tabacek Andrej Sekera
Lubomir Visnovsky Lubomir Visnovsky Tomas Starosta
GOALIES
Peter Budaj Peter Budaj Peter Budaj
Jaroslav Halak Jaroslav Halak Jaroslav Halak
Jaroslav Janus Jaroslav Janus Jaroslav Janus

2014 OLYMPICS POLL