The Athletic has live coverage of Canada vs. Finland and USA vs. Slovakia in the 2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey semifinals.
MILAN — Bolzano is a town in northern Italy, roughly a three-hour drive from the Olympic host city, nestled in the Dolomites Mountains, a scenic locale that attracts millions of tourists every year.
It also attracts hockey players.
Every spring, the World Selects Invitational hockey tournament is held in Bolzano, with some of the best youth hockey players in the world attending.
In the spring of 2016, Juraj Slafkovský had just turned 12, Dalibor Dvorský was 11, and the two of them traveled together from their native Slovakia to compete in Bolzano as part of the Slovakia Selects 12U hockey team. A year later, Slafkovský and his best friend, Šimon Nemec, were part of the Slovakia HMS Select team that traveled to Quebec City for the International Pee-Wee hockey tournament.
The three of them quickly became the faces of Slovakia’s hockey future.
Slafkovský was the No. 1 pick by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2022 NHL draft, followed by Nemec going No. 2 to the New Jersey Devils, while Dvorský was the No. 10 pick by the St. Louis Blues in 2023.
And while the future is bright for Slovakia, thanks in large part to these three young talents, it is Slovakia’s present they are charged with in Milan.
The trio of young stars will lead Slovakia into its semifinal matchup with the United States on Friday as massive underdogs, but they are realizing a dream that was formed long ago in the mountains of Northern Italy or the shores of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec.
Slafkovský was the MVP of the 2022 Olympic men’s hockey tournament in Beijing, and Nemec was also on that bronze-medal-winning Slovak team, the country’s first Olympic medal in ice hockey.
This is different, with NHL players involved, the best of the best, and Slovakia is still here in the semifinals, still being led by this trio of young stars with an opportunity to win a medal that would be so much more meaningful to them and their country.
“The Olympics and also to play for your country is the first thing that you’re dreaming about,” Nemec said. “(When) we were young, we were always watching the Slovak team on the TV, so that was the first dream. We did it in 2022, but now it’s a different tournament with the best players in the world, and I think we’re doing a pretty good job.”
Today, Slafkovský is 21, Nemec turned 22 on Sunday and Dvorský is 20, three of the youngest players in the tournament, and still leading Slovakia to a guaranteed medal game regardless. So much of Slovakia’s hopes for a brighter future have been heaped on these three, and on the biggest stage, they are delivering.
Entering the semifinals, Slafkovský is tied for fifth in tournament scoring with seven points in four games, Dvorský is tied for eighth with six points and Nemec is playing on Slovakia’s top defense pair and averaging close to 22 minutes of ice time per game.
“I feel like this is the next generation,” said Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehérváry. “They’re going to be really good names in the NHL and, hopefully, really big stars. They’re just growing up; each year, you can just see how Slafkovský and Nemec and Dvorský, they’re getting better and better and better. They’re becoming some of the top players in the tournament. It’s just really cool to see it.”
Of the three young stars, the burden of expectations definitely falls heaviest on Slafkovský. He played in the men’s world championships at 16, the Olympics at 17, drew comparisons to legend Jaromír Jágr and generally was anointed Slovakia’s next big hockey star at a very early age.
Juraj Slafkovský and Dalibor Dvorský are part of Slovak hockey team on a dream run at these Olympics. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
He entered the Olympics with pressure to recapture the magic of Beijing when he scored seven goals in seven games, and he’s met every expectation so far, and then some.
“You all can see it, right? He has really grown in every aspect, and he’s showing it every game,” Dvorský said. “The pressure on him is probably the biggest on the team since he’s doing great in Montreal and all the stuff around him.
“He’s handling it extremely well, and he’s playing awesome.”
For Slafkovský, the fact that he is having this success with two longtime friends, people he has known since childhood, is something he will fully appreciate another time. There’s no time to get nostalgic at the Olympics.
“For sure, we were dreaming about it when we were small that one day we’re going to play for Slovakia and we want to achieve things,” he said. “So far, it’s happening, so I’m just enjoying it. Maybe when we’re going to have a beer when we’re 45 and retired, we’re going to look back and just laugh.
“Yeah, enjoy moments like this while it’s happening.”
There is a lot to enjoy for Slovakia right now, and it’s not limited to the trio of young stars. Slovakia is a team in every sense of the word, and to define this team as the product of the play of three players would be a great disservice.
No matter what happens in the next two games, Slovak hockey has announced that it will be a player on the big stage in the years to come, and that hope is largely derived from these three young stars, who have all dreamt of this happening since they hit puberty.
They shared that dream together, and they are now living it together.
“It’s pretty cool,” Nemec said, “to play with your best friend.”