Team Slovakia

Today we saw 3 teams post their Olympic Hockey Rosters: Norway, Latvia, and Slovakia. I will address Norway and Latvia in a later post, and I'm going to talk about Slovakia this time around.

Slovakia is a team that I don't think really turns a lot of people's heads at first glance. But if you take a really good look at this team, there could be a lot of possibilities from this squad. If you're looking for your Olympic dark-horse, I don't think that you need to look any farther than Slovakia.

In goal we have:
Peter Budaj (Avalanche), Jaroslov Halak (Canadiens), Rastislav Stana (Russian league). 23 wins combined. Avg. GA is 2.51. Avg. Save % is .916. And their shut out total is 2. As I said, nothing flashy. I would wager that we will see a pretty even split between Halak and Budaj. Budaj has been the back-up for Colorado this year as he was never able to solidfy himself as the definite starter. For all his inconsistency, however, he shows flashes of utter brilliance! His last game against Dallas was enough to show that as he stopped 39 shots, and allowed only 1 goal against the Stars. And he does better, or has done better, when he shares the load and is not the main guy. Enter Halak, who has had a very impressive year in his role with Montreal this year. Thought to be mostly the backup, he has played quite well in his 16 games. Stana is having a pretty mediocre year in the KHL thus far. He is the only of the 3 current goalies to have a save percentage less than .900. I would not plan on seeing too much action from him, unless the other 2 guys are clearly not getting it done.

Defense:
Zdeno Chara (Bruins), Milan Jurcina (Capitals), Richard Lintner (KHL), Andrej Meszaros (Lightning), Andrej Sekera (Sabres), Martin Strbak (KHL), Lubomir Visnovsky (Oilers).

A stout and sturdy group. This group will be very clearly led by the 6'9 Zdeno Chara who is one of the top defensemen in the NHL. Size, impressive speed and movement for a big man, great in his own end, and what a huge shot to set up the power play! This guy could be serious, serious trouble on the play and 5 on 5. A good mix on defense. Meszaros is another player who is a good defenseman that also likes to be involved offensively. A knock on this group is that they are a combined -9, meaning they are on the ice for a lot of goals. So if they don't manage to fix that up at all, then they could be missing out on the medal rounds.

Forwards:
Lubos Bartecko (Suisse Elite League), Martin Cibak (KHL), Pavol Demitra (Canucks), Marian Gaborik (Rangers), Michal Handzus (Kings), Marcel Hossa (KHL), Marian Hossa (Blackhawks), Tomas Kopecky (Blackhawks), Zigmund Palffy (Slovak elite league), Branko Radivojevic (KHL), Miroslav Satan (Free Agent), Jozef Stümpel (KHL), Richard Zednik (KHL).

There are a lot of names here from the KHL or other elite leagues. However, many of those names (Ziggy Palffy, Radivojevic, Stumpel, Zednik, Marcel Hossa) have all played in the NHL and chose to go back to the other side of the pond. This team has a lot of offensive power. Both Hossa's, Gaborik (current NHL goal scoring leader). Pavol Demitra is a great set-up and defensive center. They are very deceptive in their ability. This time around they are missing Peter Bondra, who was one of the great Slovak hockey players of all time, and they have left off Marek Svatos. Svatos is currently having a less than average year with the Avs, and has been injury plagued as of late. So, as talented as he is, I can understand why he got the snub in this particular case. This team got 5th in the 2006 Olympic games, and I think they can very easily get at least that again. They may even surprise a team or 2, depending on who they draw once they reach the quarterfinals and such.

Overall team grade: B+, maybe a B. They are very deceptive, but may also underachieve. A lot will depend on how their goalies and defense play. If they play to their potential, you could even see a bronze for the Slovaks.

Let me know what your thoughts are!