MILAN (AP) — Martin Fehervary was still catching his breath. Fresh off the ice from playing in the first men's hockey game at the Milan Cortina Olympics, the defenseman from Slovakia knew he wasn't in North America anymore.
“The pace of the game was really fast,” Fehervary said. “I felt like it was even faster than in the NHL.”
The return of the best players in the world to the Olympics got off to a frantic, fast-paced start Wednesday when Slovakia upset Finland in the first of 30 games 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, ending a long wait for stars from all over the world.
“It was a long time coming,” Canada's Nathan MacKinnon said. "A lot of us are in our primes right now, so it’s a good time to go, I think.”
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 “Italia! Italia!" from the excited crowd.
Matt Bradley, a Vancouver native whose grandfather Guido is from Italy, also scored after expressing motivation to show up in men's hockey and make the country proud against some tough competition.
“It brings nerves but also a little bit of confidence and push,” Bradley said. “We want to play up to their level and compete with them. We’re not just here to enjoy the Olympics. We’re here to compete and do the best we can.”
The tournament favorites get underway Thursday. The U.S. faces Latvia, while Canada takes on Czechia.
“It’s been a long process, but we’re 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.”
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 Finland’s Anton Lundell and Slovakia’s 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.
“It was awesome," Hlavaj said after his team's 4-1 win. "It felt like we were playing at the home rink.”
Juraj Slafkovsky scored the first men's hockey goal in Milan for Slovakia just under eight minutes in, 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 — and players noticed.
"I didn’t 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 I’m glad they came here and supported us and hopefully we gave them a great show.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Exclusive film screening in San Mateo Read moreA LITTLE FELLOW: THE LEGACY OF A.P.GIANNINI
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.