After their best-ever fourth-place showing at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Team Slovakia will have an uphill battle to maintain in order to improve their standing in Sochi this February.
The 25-man national roster was announced on Tuesday morning. It features 14 NHLers, including captain Zdeno Chara anchoring the blue line.
The Slovaks were the surprise of the tournament in Vancouver, especially offensively. The late Pavol Demitra, who perished in the Yaroslavl plane crash in 2011, was the tournament's leading scorer with 10 points and was named to the All-Star team. Team Slovakia will miss its talented center this time around.
Marian Hossa was second among Vancouver's scoring leaders with nine points. He'll be expected to contribute once again in Sochi.
Injuries are also an issue for the Slovaks. Here's a look at how coach Vladimir Vujtek could deploy his personnel.
All stats courtesy of NHL.com, IIHF.com and eliteprospects.com.
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Article written by Carol Schram
Slovakia Olympic Hockey Team 2014: Full 25-Man Roster, Projected Lines, Pairings
January 7th, 2014 by Carol Schram Leave a reply »
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