The return of the best players in the world to the Olympics got off to a frantic, fast-paced start on Wednesday.
MILAN, Metropolitan City of Milan β Martin Fehervary was still catching his breath. Fresh off the ice from playing in the first men’s hockey gameΒ at the Milan Cortina Olympics, the defenseman from Slovakia knew he wasn’t in North America anymore.
βThe pace of the game was really fast,β Fehervary said. βI felt like it was even faster than in the NHL.β
The return of the best players in the world to the Olympics got off to a frantic, fast-paced start Wednesday whenΒ Slovakia upset Finland in the first of 30 gamesΒ in the tournament that will conclude with the gold medal final on Feb. 22. The NHL is participating in the Games for the first time in 12 years going back to Sochi in 2014,Β ending a long wait for stars from all over the world.
βHad a tough time sleeping last night, and then just getting ready for this game,β 35-year-old first-time Olympian Victor Hedman said after he scored an empty-net goal to help Sweden survive a scare from ItalyΒ and win 5-2. βPhenomenal. Nerves.β
Italy has no NHL players, and yet the host country got off to quite the start against heavily favored Sweden. Homegrown winger Luca Frigo, put Italy up 1-0 just a few minutes into the game, sparking chants of βItalia! Italia!” from the excited crowd.
βIt was indescribable,” captain Thomas Larkin said. “The support we got when we scored that first goal was absolutely unbelievable. Itβs something that Iβm sure Iβll remember for a long, long time.β
Matt Bradley, a Vancouver native whose 95-year-old grandfather Guido Garzitto is from Italy, also scored after expressing motivation to show up in men’s hockey and make the country proud against some tough competition.
βA once-in-a-lifetime amazing feeling,β Bradley said. βOverjoyed with emotions for that.β
The tournament favorites get underway Thursday. The U.S. faces Latvia, while Canada takes on Czechia.
βItβs been a long process, but weβre very excited to have a game,” U.S. general manager Bill Guerin said. “The players are really looking forward to it. They need a game. They want a game. Just really looking forward to getting started.β
They got to sit and watch what it might be like to take center stage at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, which was nearly filled to the capacity of 11,600 by the time Finlandβs Anton Lundell and Slovakiaβs Adam Ruzicka lined up for the opening faceoff 20 minutes before 5 p.m. local time.
The crowd roared in the opening moments when scoring chances materialized and gasped when Slovakia goaltender Samuel Hlavaj stopped a slap shot from point-blank range.
βIt was awesome,” Hlavaj said after his team’s 4-1 win. “It felt like we were playing at the home rink.β
Juraj Slafkovsky scored the first men’s hockey goal in Milan for Slovakia just under eight minutes in,Β picking up where he left off in Beijing four years ago. He scored again in the third period, setting off a boisterous crowd that was wired from the start and even at one point did the wave.
More importantly than that, the fans were loud β and players noticed.
“I didnβt really expect anything like that (or) close it,” Slovakia defenseman and two-time Stanley Cup champion Erik Cernak said. “They were amazing. It felt like we were playing at home. There was so many Slovakian fans and everybody, so Iβm glad they came here and supported us and hopefully we gave them a great show.β
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