Slovakia - USA quick facts

Do you know:

•   The USA has never beaten the Slovaks at the Olympic Games. In two Olympic meetings, Slovakia has a win - 2-1 in Turin 2006 - and a tie - 3-3 at Lillehammer 1994
•   The United States will make its 22nd appearance in men's Olympic ice hockey tournament, more than any other NOC in the competition.
•   There are only three players above the age of 30 on the USA roster. Goaltender Ryan Miller is the oldest at 33.
•   No team that earned silver in men's ice hockey in one Winter Games has gone on to win gold in the following Games since the Soviet Union won gold at Sarajevo 1984 following their loss to the USA in the the 'Miracle on Ice' game at Lake Placid 1980.
•   At 2.06 m at 117 kg, Slovak captain Zdeno Chara is the tallest and heaviest athlete at Sochi 2014.
•   The USA is the only team that has ever been disqualified from an Olympic men's ice hockey tournament. In 1948, the team came fourth and was later removed from the records due to eligibility issues.

Quote of the game:
Jaroslav Halak (SVK goalie): It's going to be really difficult for every team to win every game because right now all the teammates are getting closer together. Five, 10 years ago there was such a big difference between all the teams, but now everybody is more equal. We have to think just one game at a time. Everybody got together three days ago so we had a really short time to get used to each other. Today we face the US and we'll see how it goes. I'm sure after the game our coaches will make some adjustments for playing the other teams.

 

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