After France hosted the Paris Olympics this Summer, Italy will be tasked with hosting the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games. Over the last weekend, three countries qualified for the Olympic hockey tournament: Latvia, Denmark and Slovakia. Unfortunately for David Reinbacher and Vinzenz Rohrer, Austria didn’t make the cut.
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While Juraj Slafkovsky couldn’t join his country for the qualification tournament, he, just like all NHL players, will be able to join it for the Olympics. As was announced last February, the league will allow its players to compete in the next two Olympics in 2026 and 2030.
Related: Montreal Canadiens at the Olympics: Slafkovsky’s Games
The NHL players have missed the last two tournaments but the league, player association and the International Ice Hockey Federation have acknowledged how important it is for players to represent their homelands and have therefore reached an agreement.
At the 2022 Olympics Juraj Slafkovsky really made a name for himself and stole the limelight, on his way to becoming the first overall pick of the 2022 draft, which led him to joining the Montreal Canadiens.
There’s little doubt that he will be getting the nod from his country to compete at the tournament and he might not be the only Canadiens players to do so either. Cole Caufield, Patrik Laine and Nick Suzuki could all be getting an invite.
Related: Juraj Slafkovský Talks to Media Following Eight-Year Extension
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