While the NHL has been on pause since February 6, the men’s Olympic tournament is only kicking off in Milano on Wednesday with two games in Group B. The first game will feature Slovakia and Finland, while the second will pit Sweden and Italy. In other words, one Montreal Canadiens will make his tournament debut.
Oliver Kapanen is part of the Finnish team, but he was the thirteenth forward when the team trained on Tuesday, and it has now been confirmed that he’ll be a healthy scratch when the Finns take on the Slovaks today.
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Meanwhile, Juraj Slafkovsky will be playing for Slovakia and is expected to play a major role for his country. Back in 2022, his dominant MVP performance at the Olympics helped Slovakia win the bronze medal and spectacularly launched his career, making him the Canadiens’ first-overall pick at the draft held in Montreal. In seven games in Beijing, he scored seven goals, including a pair in the bronze medal game, to lead the tournament in scoring.
The 21-year-old is fully aware that this tournament will be different from his first Olympic appearance since the NHL players are there this time around, but he still wants to make a difference:
I just want to give my best performance. I'll look to help my team and to be the best version of myself. Hopefully, I can help the team win a few games.-
Skating on the first line alongside former Hab Tomas Tatar and former NHLer Adam Ruzicka, Slafkovsky should face the opponents’ first line and first defensive pairing, which should prove to be a big challenge in this best-on-best competition.
The Canadiens’ winger will also play on his country’s first power play unit with Tatar, St. Louis Blues’ Dalibor Dvorsky, Libor Hudacek, who plays in Czechia, and New Jersey Devils defenseman Simon Nemec.
Team Slovakia only includes seven NHLers, while Finland only has one non-NHL player on its roster, which makes the Finns the favourite on paper to win today’s tilt, but the game is played on the ice and not on paper.
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