Juraj Slafkovsky named to Slovakia's Olympic team, no other Canadiens picked
Slovakia's Juraj Slafkovsky, center, will suit up for the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy. (Darko Vojinovic/The Associated Press)
The Montreal Canadiens' number-one pick, Juraj Slafkovsky, will suit up for Slovakia at next year's Olympics.
The International Ice Hockey Federation posted Team Slovakia's preliminary roster on X, featuring six players named for next year's Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina.
Habs forward Slafkovsky, along with Martin Fehervary (Washington Capitals), Tomas Tatar (New Jersey Devils), Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay Lightning), Simon Nemec (New Jersey Devils) and Martin Pospisil (Calgary Flames) are expected to play, starting Feb. 11.
The other 11 teams that have qualified for the Olympics also announced their first six players.
Canada's first six picks are centres Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Brayden Point, defenceman Cale Makar and right winger Sam Reinhart.
No Habs player made any of the other countries' preliminary rosters.
The NHL announced in February that pro players will play in the 2026 and 2030 Olympics.
The last time NHL-ers suited up for their countries was at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.
NHL players have played in five Olympic games: Nagano in 1998, Salt Lake City in 2002, Turin in 2006, Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014.
Canada won gold in 2014, 2010 and 2002; Sweden won in 2006, and Czechia (then called the Czech Republic) won in 1998.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Vancouver Sun
18 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
Calder Cup Finals: Who were gritty, grinding 2015 Utica Comets? Where are they now?
Wide-eyed rookie Hunter Shinkaruk was 19 years old. Grizzled veteran Kent Huskins was 35. They were roster bookends for the gritty and grinding 2015 Utica Comets, the first AHL affiliate of the parent Vancouver Canucks to advance to the Calder Cup Finals. The Abbotsford Canucks are the second, in 2025, and currently deadlocked at one win apiece against the Charlotte Checkers. The Comets simply ran out of gas against the juggernaut Manchester Monarchs in five games of the 2015 championship series. However, their long slog of five playoff overtime outings — including a four-overtime marathon in a seven-game Western Conference final series — is not forgotten. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Ten members of the Monarchs advanced to the NHL, while just five from the Comets made it to and stayed in The Show. Maybe that's why Comets fans couldn't contain themselves from what was happening in 2015. There was a frenzy in upstate New York. 'It's kind of a legacy how the Utica Auditorium turned into a place,' then-Comets bench boss Travis Green told Postmedia. 'When we landed after clinching the conference final against Grand Rapids, we had a police escort, and fans waiting for us at the Aud. 'Pretty special in that league.' That Comets roster also included Sven Baertschi, Jake Virtanen, Alex Biega, Brendan Gaunce, Alexandre Grenier, Frankie Corrado, Nicklaus Jensen, Andrey Pedan, Adam Clendinning and Jacob Markstrom. Some advanced to the NHL, but many only had a cup of coffee. 'It wasn't a star-studded group,' admitted Green, who moved from the Comets to run NHL benches in Vancouver, New Jersey and now Ottawa. 'A team that really rallied around playing the game hard and playing to win with a lot of will. We believed. 'Getting a lot of buy-in from your team can go a long way. Manchester had a lot of good, young players and could really skate. We didn't get to our heavy game enough to slow them down and they deserved to win. But it doesn't take away how proud I was of the players and the city that rallied around.' Hard-luck winger Baertschi retired in 2023 because of repeated concussions. However, he turned a love of the game into an WHL assistant coaching position with the Portland Winterhawks last summer. It has created new memories to add to those that last. It includes those crazy Comets, who kept defying playoff odds after an impressive 47-20-0-9 regular season. Nobody scored more than the 21 goals that journeyman Brandon DeFazio managed, but he never played an NHL game. It was that kind of team. For Baertschi, it was the culmination of a season started with requesting a trade from the Calgary Flames that came to fruition in March. He played three games with the Canucks, and was dispatched to Utica, where he racked up 15 points (8-7) in 21 memorable postseason games. 'It had a lot to do with our leadership group,' Baertschi told Postmedia on Monday. 'Guys like Carter Bancks and (captain) Cal O'Reilly. He led with calmness in games, a really determined guy and it led to a lot of success. It was a the way we were built. 'We had a lot of heart-and-soul guys and the right scoring and that's not easy to do in the AHL. We had the combination. You're never going to have that again based on the wide age in guys we had. You always remember good playoff runs. 'It brings out the best. So many guys, who you wouldn't expect, elevated their games. That's hard because playoffs are a different animal and Manchester just had four really solid lines. That's why I'm super proud of those guys I played with. It was a grind. 'Abbotsford is having the same feeling and tasting victories.' Baertschi's history with Green dates back to junior in Portland and he reached out to his former coach before taking the coaching leap. 'He's been a really important person in my life and always been a mentor,' said Baertschi. 'Obviously, coaching is different than a player. I've been in their shoes and can help them mature.' The Winterhawks advanced to the Western Conference final this season before swept by powerhouse Spokane Chiefs. For the 32-year-old Baertschi, it was the right time to pivot to behind the bench and run the power play.. 'It got to the point where I was done as a player and it doesn't matter why or how,' stressed Baertschi. 'I'm happy where I'm at and in a good place in my life. I get to touch the ice every day as a coach, which is the greatest thing, and I can share my experiences.' Not everybody on that Utica roster used the AHL as a springboard to the NHL. Here's a look: Hunter Shinkaruk: 24th overall, 2013 NHL Draft, Vancouver, 11 NHL games. Played four games for Cardiff Devils of Elite Hockey League in Britain this season. Jake Virtanen: 6th overall, 2014 NHL Draft, Vancouver, 317 NHL games. Played 46 games this season with Iserlohn Roosters in German pro loop. Six goals. Alexandre Grenier, 90th overall, 2011 NHL Draft, Vancouver, 9 NHL games. Had 42 points (17-25) in 41 games the season with the Cologne Sharks of DEL. Nicklas Jensen, 29th overall pick, 2011 NHL Draft, Vancouver, 31 NHL games. Had 29 points (16-13) in 48 games this season with Rapperswil-Jona (Swiss-A). Alex Friesen, 172nd overall pick, 2010 NHL Draft, Vancouver, 1 NHL game. Had 15 points (6-9) in 38 games this season with Bremerhaven Penguins (DEL). bkuzma@
Winnipeg Free Press
18 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Skinner or Pickard? Oilers' Knoblauch still not naming starting goalie for Stanley Cup Final Game 6
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — It's anyone's guess who starts in goal for the Edmonton Oilers when they face elimination in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. Coach Kris Knoblauch did not say Monday whether it would be Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard. 'It's who we feel can win us a game,' Knoblauch said after practice. 'That's how it's gone in other games, and we'll make that decision.' Skinner was Edmonton's starting goaltender to begin the playoffs, lost the first two games and was replaced by Pickard, who went 6-0 before getting injured. Skinner also started the first four in the final, got pulled twice and for Pickard, who won Game 4 and lost Game 5. 'A strength of our team is that we can go with both guys,' winger Connor Brown said. 'They're up for the challenge. I mean, they're both absolute pros. Both have given this their best every time they come in there, and they both work hard, so we're in it as a group.' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins did not practice Monday, though Knoblauch expects the Oilers' longest-tenured player to be in the lineup Tuesday night in Sunrise. That is a constant, even if Nugent-Hopkins is not 100% healthy, though there could be other changes coming. Either Jeff Skinner or Vasily Podkolzin may be ticketed for the press box as a healthy scratch up front, while John Klingberg is a candidate to return on defense. Status quo Panthers Florida will be making no such changes, barring something unforeseen, in the first chance to clinch back-to-back championships. The same 12 forwards and six defensemen who have been in place since A.J. Greer returned from injury in Game 3 figure to be in the lineup again. 'It's all health based,' coach Paul Maurice said. 'We're a pretty healthy team, fortunately, at this point, and we've got good players.' That includes Matthew Tkachuk, who missed the remainder of the regular season after getting injured at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. After some ups and downs and uncertainty, he's 'feeling the best' he has during this run. 'I thought there was maybe a 50% chance I wouldn't be playing as close to about a week or five days before the playoffs started,' Tkachuk said. 'Very lucky and fortunate that I've got great trainers and doctors, and they all somehow got me healthy enough to play.' Florida Olympians The Panthers have five players already bound for the 2026 Olympics in Milan: Tkachuk for the U.S., Sam Reinhart for Canada, Aleksander Barkov for Finland, Nico Sturm for Germany and Uvis Balinskis for Latvia. The 12 teams participating unveiled their preliminary six-man rosters Monday. Sturm and Balinskis have not played in the final, but the Olympic announcements put them in the spotlight. 'Being an Olympian is something that not a lot of athletes can say about their careers,' Sturm said. 'It's the best athletes in the world from every sport, and it's definitely something that I've marked on my calendar, something that I want to achieve in my career. It'd be a huge accomplish to be able to play there and, once your career's done, to say you participated in the Olympics, I think that's a huge accomplishment not to be understated.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
The Province
31 minutes ago
- The Province
Calder Cup Finals: Who were gritty, grinding 2015 Utica Comets? Where are they now?
'We had a lot of heart-and-soul guys and the right scoring and that's not easy to do in the AHL. We had the combination.' — 2015 Utica Comets winger Sven Baertschi. Get the latest from Ben Kuzma straight to your inbox Hard-luck winger Sven Baertschi had his NHL moments with the Vancouver Canucks, but fondly recalls the 2015 Calder Cup Finals with the upstart AHL Utica Comets. Photo by Bruce Bennett / Getty Images files Wide-eyed rookie Hunter Shinkaruk was 19 years old. Grizzled veteran Kent Huskins was 35. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors They were roster bookends for the gritty and grinding 2015 Utica Comets, the first AHL affiliate of the parent Vancouver Canucks to advance to the Calder Cup Finals. The Abbotsford Canucks are the second, in 2025, and currently deadlocked at one win apiece against the Charlotte Checkers. The Comets simply ran out of gas against the juggernaut Manchester Monarchs in five games of the 2015 championship series. However, their long slog of five playoff overtime outings — including a four-overtime marathon in a seven-game Western Conference final series — is not forgotten. Ten members of the Monarchs advanced to the NHL, while just five from the Comets made it to and stayed in The Show. Maybe that's why Comets fans couldn't contain themselves from what was happening in 2015. There was a frenzy in upstate New York. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It's kind of a legacy how the Utica Auditorium turned into a place,' then-Comets bench boss Travis Green told Postmedia. 'When we landed after clinching the conference final against Grand Rapids, we had a police escort, and fans waiting for us at the Aud. 'Pretty special in that league.' Utica winger Ronalds Kenins moves around Connor Brown of the Toronto Marlies during AHL game Dec. 12, 2014, in Utica. That Comets roster also included Sven Baertschi, Jake Virtanen, Alex Biega, Brendan Gaunce, Alexandre Grenier, Frankie Corrado, Nicklaus Jensen, Andrey Pedan, Adam Clendinning and Jacob Markstrom. Some advanced to the NHL, but many only had a cup of coffee. 'It wasn't a star-studded group,' admitted Green, who moved from the Comets to run NHL benches in Vancouver, New Jersey and now Ottawa. 'A team that really rallied around playing the game hard and playing to win with a lot of will. We believed. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Getting a lot of buy-in from your team can go a long way. Manchester had a lot of good, young players and could really skate. We didn't get to our heavy game enough to slow them down and they deserved to win. But it doesn't take away how proud I was of the players and the city that rallied around.' Hard-luck winger Baertschi retired in 2023 because of repeated concussions. However, he turned a love of the game into an WHL assistant coaching position with the Portland Winterhawks last summer. It has created new memories to add to those that last. It includes those crazy Comets, who kept defying playoff odds after an impressive 47-20-0-9 regular season. Nobody scored more than the 21 goals that journeyman Brandon DeFazio managed, but he never played an NHL game. It was that kind of team. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. For Baertschi, it was the culmination of a season started with requesting a trade from the Calgary Flames that came to fruition in March. He played three games with the Canucks, and was dispatched to Utica, where he racked up 15 points (8-7) in 21 memorable postseason games. Sven Baertschi was acquired in a March 2015 trade by the Vancouver Canucks and then sent to the Utica Comets. 'It had a lot to do with our leadership group,' Baertschi told Postmedia on Monday. 'Guys like Carter Bancks and (captain) Cal O'Reilly. He led with calmness in games, a really determined guy and it led to a lot of success. It was a the way we were built. 'We had a lot of heart-and-soul guys and the right scoring and that's not easy to do in the AHL. We had the combination. You're never going to have that again based on the wide age in guys we had. You always remember good playoff runs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It brings out the best. So many guys, who you wouldn't expect, elevated their games. That's hard because playoffs are a different animal and Manchester just had four really solid lines. That's why I'm super proud of those guys I played with. It was a grind. 'Abbotsford is having the same feeling and tasting victories.' Baertschi's history with Green dates back to junior in Portland and he reached out to his former coach before taking the coaching leap. 'He's been a really important person in my life and always been a mentor,' said Baertschi. 'Obviously, coaching is different than a player. I've been in their shoes and can help them mature.' The Winterhawks advanced to the Western Conference final this season before swept by powerhouse Spokane Chiefs. For the 32-year-old Baertschi, it was the right time to pivot to behind the bench and run the power play.. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It got to the point where I was done as a player and it doesn't matter why or how,' stressed Baertschi. 'I'm happy where I'm at and in a good place in my life. I get to touch the ice every day as a coach, which is the greatest thing, and I can share my experiences.' Where are they now? Not everybody on that Utica roster used the AHL as a springboard to the NHL. Here's a look: Hunter Shinkaruk: 24th overall, 2013 NHL Draft, Vancouver, 11 NHL games. Played four games for Cardiff Devils of Elite Hockey League in Britain this season. Jake Virtanen: 6th overall, 2014 NHL Draft, Vancouver, 317 NHL games. Played 46 games this season with Iserlohn Roosters in German pro loop. Six goals. Alexandre Grenier, 90th overall, 2011 NHL Draft, Vancouver, 9 NHL games. Had 42 points (17-25) in 41 games the season with the Cologne Sharks of DEL. Nicklas Jensen, 29th overall pick, 2011 NHL Draft, Vancouver, 31 NHL games. Had 29 points (16-13) in 48 games this season with Rapperswil-Jona (Swiss-A). Alex Friesen, 172nd overall pick, 2010 NHL Draft, Vancouver, 1 NHL game. Had 15 points (6-9) in 38 games this season with Bremerhaven Penguins (DEL). bkuzma@ Read More National Vancouver Canucks Sports NHL Vancouver Canucks
