By winning their group at the final round of qualifying this past weekend, the Slovaks have qualified for the men’s ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Although the Olympics are 17 months away, let’s take a look at what 25 players Slovakia might take to defend its 2022 bronze-medal finish.
A lot will depend on who is coaching the team. For now, Craig Ramsay is signed to coach the Slovak national team through 2026, at which time he’ll be 75. That could always change, but assuming Ramsay is there, and he and his staff mostly had their picks of who they wanted at the recent Olympic qualifiers, the roster could be largely the same.
Based on his age, this year’s IIHF World Championship and the Olympic qualifiers, Minnesota Wild prospect Samuel Hlavaj seems to have the inside edge for the starting goaltender position. He wasn’t chosen for the recent qualifiers, but 2022 Olympic all-star Patrik Rybár could slot in as the backup.
On defense, Erik Černák is going to come in, which means somebody has to leave. It’s a tough call, but I say Mário Grman, a third-pair righty who becomes less of a necessity with Černák’s addition.
Up front, there are some more difficult choices. Juraj Slafkovský is obviously coming in. What about Peter Cehlarík, who was surprisingly left off the Olympic qualifying team? Will youngsters Martin Chromiak, Jakub Demek, Dalibor Dvorský or Filip Mesár play themselves onto the team in the next season and a half?
For some reason, Marián Studenič never seems to be a priority selection for the Slovaks despite putting up good offensive numbers in the AHL. The fact that he left the team just before the start of the Olympic qualifiers is not likely to endear himself more to those in charge, so he faces an uphill climb.
From the Olympic qualifying roster, I say Studenič, Miloš Roman and Matúš Sukeľ are out, while Slafkovský, Cehlarík and Dvorský are in, but that’s largely an educated guess.
As for the leadership group of Tomáš Tatar, Marek Hrivík and Peter Čerešňák, I see no need to alter that. The team’s most talented young players are probably still too young to take those letters away.
For European-based players, there are still six international breaks before the next Olympics to prove themselves. For some of the young players in North America, there could be the 2025 Worlds if they’re available.
Goaltenders: Samuel Hlavaj, Patrik Rybár, Stanislav Škorvánek.
Defensemen: Šimon Nemec, Erik Černák, Peter Čerešňák (A), Martin Gernát, Martin Fehérváry, Michal Ivan, Patrik Koch, Samuel Kňažko.
Forwards: Juraj Slafkovský, Peter Cehlarík, Marek Hrivík (A), Miloš Kelemen, Róbert Lantoši, Adam Liška, Lukáš Cingel, Kristián Pospíšil, Martin Pospíšil, Libor Hudáček, Pavol Regenda, Adam Sýkora, Tomáš Tatar (C), Dalibor Dvorský.
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