A familiar face to Nashville Predators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators]fans will be behind the bench for Slovakia's men's ice hockey team at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. Tuesday, Hockey Slovakia announced [https://www.instagram.com/p/DMaLZBzROwq/?hl=en]that former Predators forward Vladimír Országh [https://www.instagram.com/p/DMaLZBzROwq/?hl=en], who played with the team from 2001 to 2004, will be the head coach for Slovakia at the Olympics in February. Orszagh recently served as Slovakia's interim head coach at the 2025 IIHF World Championship and has previously been an assistant coach for the team. Orszagh signed a three-year contract with the Slovak Ice Hockey Association. He is currently the head coach of HC '05 Banská Bystrica, which plays in Slovakia's top ice hockey league, Slovak Extraliga. Orszagh was drafted 106th overall in the 1995 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders before being signed by the Predators as a free agent in the 2001 offseason. During his time in Nashville, Orszagh played in 223 games, scored 47 goals and 58 assists for 105 points. Orszagh's best season came during the 2003-04 season, when he had 37 points in 82 games. Due to the lockout in 2005, he returned to Slovakia for the following season to play in the Slovak Extraliga, where he recorded 30 points in 37 games. Orszagh returned to the NHL for a final season in 2005-06 with the St. Louis Blues, where he had 14 points in 16 games. On the international level, Orszagh has represented Slovakia eight times in his career, winning Slovakia's first and only Gold Medal at the 2002 IIHF World Championship. He also won a Bronze Medal at the 2003 IIHF World Championship. Orszagh replaces longtime Slovakia head coach Craig Ramsey, who had been Slovakia's international team since 2017 and had spent 14 seasons as the Buffalo Sabres head coach from 1971 to 1985. The Canadian-born coach helped Slovakia achieve its best Olympic result at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, defeating Sweden 4-0 to win the Bronze Medal. It was the first time Slovakia had ever won a medal at the Olympics. Two Predators have already been named to preliminary Olympic rosters: Roman Josi (Switzerland) [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/predators-defenseman-roman-josi-named-to-switzerland-s-preliminary-olympic-roster] and Juuse Saros (Finland) [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/predators-goalie-juuse-saros-named-to-finland-s-preliminary-olympic-roster]. The 2026 Olympics will be held from February 11 to 22. This is the first time that NHL players will participate in the Olympic Games since 2014.
