‘Not done yet’: Slovakia continues to show they mean business at Olympics

Team Slovakia has clearly established itself as the Cinderella story of the men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Entering the tournament as a clear-cut third contender in a group that featured Team Finland and Team Sweden, the Slovaks upset the Finns and took care of business against Team Italy to claim the group and the bye into the quarterfinal.

Earlier Wednesday, they routed a Team Germany group with plenty of top-tier NHL talent, ensuring that they will compete for a medal, regardless of the result of their semifinal game.

In their postgame comments, the team’s stars suggested they’re hoping for much more than just the chance to play for bronze.

“It’s wonderful,” Juraj Slafkovsky told TSN reporter Mark Masters. This is even better because we got the best players in the world here and us, from little Slovakia where we have 5 million people. We managed to be in the top four. We want to keep working hard so we can get some medal.

After winning the MVP at the last Olympic tournament prior to going first overall in the NHL Draft and without NHL participation, Slafkovsky has seven points in four games in this tournament, as he’s led the team to the semifinal. He got the team started on the right foot by scoring the opening goal against Finland, and he hasn’t looked back.

Of course, he’s had plenty of help. St. Louis Blues rookie Dalibor Dvorsky is having a tournament to remember with six points in four games. Goaltender Samuel Hlavaj has been phenomenal at times, and veteran defenseman Erik Cernak has been a stabilizing presence on the back end.

“Amazing,” Cernak told Michael Russo of The Athletic. “Before the tournament, if we would say we’re gonna make semifinals, probably people would laugh at you, but we did it, and it’s not done yet.”