The Slovaks have a challenge ahead of them. Ramsey’s assistant said enough has been said about the KHL players, now we are fighting for the Olympics

Starting Thursday, the Slovak ice hockey team will compete for a place at the 2026 Winter Olympics. On the ice of Bratislava’s Ondrej Nepela Winter Stadium, Austria, Hungary and Kazakhstan await them in the qualifying final.

The national team began preparations for those opponents on Sunday, with head coach Craig Ramsey welcoming the 24 nominated players to an afternoon session.

Only striker Marian Studenic is missing, who still plays for the Swedish club Färjestad BK. He will join the expedition on Monday. The Slovak hockey players have to participate in the qualifying tournament for the second time in a row. Three years ago, they defeated Austria 2:1, Poland 5:1 and Belarus 2:1 in the final in Bratislava.

They advanced to the Beijing Olympics and won the bronze medal. “The expectations are always the same, the players have to play to the best of their abilities. It’s always about being well prepared. If everyone plays for the team, we’ll be successful. The most important thing for me as a coach is to get them together and have them play the way I believe hockey should be played,” said Coach Ramsey.

“I believe we can do it”

The team that advanced to the final qualifying tournament for the Olympics also includes hockey players working in the KHL. Slovakia will be represented in Bratislava by Martin Gernát, Mário Grman and Adam Liška. No KHL player has played for Slovakia since Russia invaded Ukraine.

“The public has talked enough. But we are here to fight for the Olympics. I believe we can do it,” said assistant coach Peter Fruhauf.

Instead, forwards Petr Celalik and Juraj Slavkovsky and defenseman Eric Cernak were not nominated. Tomas Tatar and Simon Nemec were allowed to represent NHL club New Jersey Devils, but Tatar admitted it was not easy: “The management didn’t like it very much, but they finally agreed and wanted us to wish Simon good luck.”

Defenseman Martin Fehvari is also available, but he is hampered by an injury. “I have some issues, I don’t want to specify, but I’m sure it will be fine. I’m in contact with the Washington Capitals management every day, and we’re also working on it with my physio. But I feel good. We’ll see how it goes, I’ll try to train and then decide, I haven’t practiced on the ice yet, so I’m interested in hockey.”

No friendly match

Two years later, Christian Pospisil will wear the national team jersey. The 28-year-old winger has missed the past two World Championships due to a conflict with head coach Ramsey. However, he will also play in Bratislava with his brother Martin.

“I’m excited and looking forward to it. This is a dream for me and my brother. Our paths have always been different, each of us has been playing somewhere else, and now we have the opportunity to make the national team. I’ve learned my lesson, but I’m still the same hockey player, and that won’t change. I’ve already had the opportunity to help the team get to the Olympics. I’ve communicated with the coach, and I’m very grateful.

Only the winners of the last three qualifying groups will qualify for the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. In addition to Bratislava Group D, the same event will also be held in Riga (Latvia, France, Slovenia, Ukraine) and Aalborg (Denmark, Norway, England, Japan).

Several teams have also completed the preliminaries, but Slovakia has not yet done so. “Yes, I think it is an advantage. We also want to play some games, but I say the most important thing is to get the players together and make sure they understand how we want to play. Because when they come back, they will play for other teams, they will play different things, we want to play faster, and that’s what we want to do because everyone plays under my leadership.”