After a surprise bronze in 2022, Slovakia returns with a younger but well-balanced line-up.
It is set to be the most watched hockey tournament in the past ten years, and the Slovak national ice hockey team will face Finland in the opening match on 11 February.
After twelve years, NHL players will once again take part in the Olympics. At the same time, Russia and Belarus will not compete because of the war in Ukraine.
Who has made the Slovak team, and what chances does it have against the competition?
The 2026 Winter Olympics will once again bring together the best players in the world. The favoured teams — Canada, the United States and Sweden — are made up entirely of NHL players. Finland will have just one player who does not play in the NHL.
Czechia will have 12, while Switzerland and Germany will each have six.
Slovakia have seven NHL players on the roster: defencemen Šimon Nemec, Martin Fehérváry and Erik Černák, and forwards Juraj Slafkovský, Martin Pospíšil, Dalibor Dvorský and Pavol Regenda. These players should form the backbone of the team, and coach Vladimír Országh will rely heavily on them.
Although Samuel Honzek played 18 NHL games this season, he will miss the tournament through injury.
Most of the squad — nine players — play in the Czech Republic. Three are in the KHL, two in Sweden, and one each in Switzerland, the AHL, the university NCAA league and the Slovak top league.
The team consists of three goaltenders, eight defencemen and 14 forwards.
Forwards:
Juraj Slafkovský (Montreal Canadiens/NHL)
Adam Ružička (Spartak Moscow/KHL)
Pavol Regenda (San Jose Sharks/NHL)
Tomáš Tatar (EV Zug/Switzerland)
Dalibor Dvorský (St. Louis Blues/NHL)
Martin Pospíšil (Calgary Flames/NHL)
Peter Cehlárik (Leksand IF/Sweden)
Marek Hrivík (HC Vítkovice Ridera/Czechia)
Libor Hudáček (HC Oceláři Třinec/Czechia)
Samuel Takáč (Slovan Bratislava/Slovakia)
Matúš Sukeľ (VERVA Litvínov/Czechia)
Oliver Okuliar (Skelleftea AIK/Sweden)
Adam Liška (Severstal Cherepovets/KHL)
Miloš Kelemen (HC Dynamo Pardubice/Czechia)
Defencemen:
Martin Fehérváry (Washington Capitals/NHL)
Šimon Nemec (New Jersey Devils/NHL)
Martin Gernát (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl/KHL)
Erik Černák (Tampa Bay Lightning/NHL)
Patrik Koch (HC Oceláři Třinec/Czechia)
Peter Čerešňák (HC Dynamo Pardubice/Czechia)
Martin Marinčin (HC Oceláři Třinec/Czechia)
Michal Ivan (Bílí Tygři Liberec/Czechia)
Goalkeepers:
Samuel Hlavaj (Iowa Wild/AHL)
Stanislav Škorvánek (University of Minnesota-Duluth/NCAA)
Adam Gajan (Mountfield HK/Czechia)
The Slovak selection includes 11 players who also took part in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. In terms of Olympic experience, the team is far from inexperienced.
By comparison, Canada have only two players who have previously played at the Winter Olympics — Sidney Crosby and Drew Doughty. The same applies to the United States; their squad has played a total of just five Olympic matches. The reason is obvious: NHL players did not take part in the last two Games.
Four years ago in Beijing, Slovakia’s bronze medal was a surprise. If that was considered a sensation, a similar result this time would be nothing short of a miracle. The level of competition will be completely different.
Despite their Olympic experience, the Slovaks will be the youngest team in the tournament, with an average age of just under 28.
Players from the Russian KHL who represented Slovakia in the 2024 Olympic qualifiers and the 2025 World Championships have also been nominated. The KHL, like the top Swedish and Finnish leagues, will not pause for the Olympics.
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