NHL Winter Olympics all-time roster for Slovakia led by Hossa, Chára

The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will feature something the world hasn’t seen in 12 years – NHL players.

For the first time since 2014 in Sochi, the best hockey players in the world will be back on the biggest of international stage, with 12 countries vying for the gold medal.

NHL players first went to the Winter Olympics in 1998 (Nagano), and went back in 2002 (Salt Lake City, 2006 Turin (2006), 2010 (Vancouver) and 2014.

All of those Olympics featured incredible players, but what if the countries had to pare down all the NHL players from those five Olympics into one team?

That’s what NHL.com has done, putting together all-time Olympic rosters of NHL players for select countries.

Today, NHL.com senior independent correspondents Michael Langr and Katarína Vilček present their all-time roster for Team Slovakia:

Explore NHL.com's Coverage of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026

FORWARDS (14)

Lubos Bartecko

Peter Bondra

Pavol Demitra

Marian Gaborik

Michal Handzus

Marian Hossa

Tomas Kopecky

Robert Petrovicky

Zigmund Palffy

Branko Radivojevic

Jozef Stumpel

Miroslav Satan

Tomas Tatar

Richard Zednik

The core of Slovakia’s all-time Olympic roster features several players from the 2010 Vancouver Games, where the team narrowly missed out on a bronze medal. Aside from Bondra, whov served as general manager in 2010, only Tatar and Petrovicky were not part of the Vancouver squad. Tatar, the only current active player on the roster, is set to be the captain for Slovakia in Milan, marking his second Olympic appearance. The lineup is otherwise anchored by veterans from Vancouver, led by the late captain Demitra, who topped the 2010 Olympic scoring with 10 points (7 goals, 3 assists). Three-time Stanley Cup champion and Hockey Hall of Fame member Hossa remains Slovakia's most productive Olympian, collecting 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists) over 19 games.

DEFENSE (7)

Zdeno Chara

Milan Jurcina

Andrej Meszaros

Andrej Sekera

Robert Svehla

Martin Strbak

Lubomir Visnovsky

2025 Hall of Fame inductee Chara anchors the defensive corps of Slovakia. The 2009 Norris Trophy winner led the Boston Bruins to the 2011 Stanley Cup as captain and competed in three Olympic tournaments, serving twice as Slovakia's captain. At the 2014 Games in Sochi, Chara had the honor of carrying the Slovak flag during the opening ceremony. Visnovsky made four Olympic appearances (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010), while the only notable absence from the Vancouver roster was Robert Svehla, who had represented Slovakia in the Nagano qualifying tournament.

GOALTENDERS (2)

Peter Budaj

Jaroslav Halak

Halak played a pivotal role in Slovakia's run to the semifinals at the Vancouver Olympics, finishing the tournament with a 2.41 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. Budaj had been even more impressive four years earlier in Turin in 2006, backstopping Slovakia to first place in the preliminary group with a 2.00 GAA and a .924 save percentage. Halak and Budaj remain the only Slovak goaltenders to have appeared in more than six NHL games -- Halak with 581 and Budaj with 368.