Wednesday, Feb. 11 was a special day for hockey fans. For the first time since 2014, the NHL was officially back in the Winter Olympics, as the league is allowing it's players to participate in the international competition. They hype levels were at all-time highs, given the amount of young players getting to participate in the men's hockey competition not only in Milan, Italy, but also in future Winter Olympics.
The very first game of the games was between Slovakia and FInland, the latter of whom won the Gold Medal in the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, China. This time around, Finland has a loaded roster, the majority of which is filled with NHL players. But if you had Slovakia scoring the very first goal, you were right. For Montreal Canadiens fans, they had to be ecstatic it was winger Juraj Slafkovsky was the one who scored the first goal in the NHL's return to the Olympics.
In the first period, Finland tried to clear the puck out of their own zone. But Slafkovsky intercepted the pass, snuck past two Finland players, and deked around goaltender Juuse Saros for a wide open goal to give Slovakia the 1-0 lead.
Juraj Slafkovsky showcases why he has bright future with opening goal 2026 Winter Olympics
There's scoring a goal, and doing it in style. Slafkovsky did both, and showcased why he has an incredibly bright future in the NHL.
In the 2022 draft class, there was a bit of debate as to who should go first between Slafkovsky and Shane Wright. The Canadiens weighed their options, and decided that Slafkovsky was the better player in their eyes. Thus far, he has proven them right.
This season alone, Slafkovsky has 21 goals and 24 assists for a total of 45 points to his credit, putting him on pace to break his totals of 50 points in the 2023-24 season and 51 points in the 2024-25 campaign. The 21-year-old winger is the fifth player on Montreal's roster to have over 40 points on the season thus far.
Montreal has a good young core of players that they have banked on helping turn them into a contender for the foreseeable future. They have just that in Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, Ivan Demidov, and Slafkovsky.
Now, Canadiens fans are watching Slafkovsky shine in best-on-best international competition. Finland may not have the caliber of roster that Canada or the United States has, but they have plenty of great talent from the NHL, with names like Sebastian Aho, Mikko Rantanen, and Miro Heiskanen standing out on Finland's roster. And the fact Slafkovsky had a highlight reel goal against them should only make Canadiens fans more excited about his future.
Slafkovsky will now forever be remembered as the first player to score a goal in the NHL's return to the Olympics, and what a beauty of a shot it was.