The Slovakians also announced their Olympic Hockey Roster nominations today.
Unlike the Czechs, the Slovaks don't have the great depth and quality of NHL players, so a few of the players come from leagues in Europe.

The Slovaks also chose to nominate their 3 Taxi Squad members.

Full Roster:

Goalies:
Ján Lašák (HC Moeller Pardubice, ČR)
Karol Križan (MODO Hockey, Švéd.)
Peter Budaj (Colorado, NHL)

Defense:
Zdeno Chára (Ottawa, NHL)
Martin Štrbák (CSKA Moskva, Rus.)
Ivan Majeský (Washington, NHL)
Andrej Meszároš (Ottawa, NHL)
Radoslav Suchý (Columbus, NHL)
L'ubomír Višňovský (Los Angeles, NHL)
Milan Jurčina (Boston/Providence, NHL/AHL)

Forwards:
Marián Gáborík (Minnesota, NHL)
Richard Zedník (Montreal, NHL)
Jozef Stümpel (Florida, NHL)
Miroslav Šatan (New York Islanders, NHL)
L'uboš Bartečko (Lulea, Švéd.)
Marcel Hossa (New York Rangers, NHL)
Pavol Demitra (Los Angeles, NHL)
Ladislav Nagy (Phoenix, NHL)
Michal Handzuš (Philadelphia, NHL)
Marek Svatoš (Colorado, NHL)
Peter Bondra (Atlanta, NHL)
Marián Hossa (Atlanta, NHL)
Richard Kapuš (Novokuzneck, Rus.)

Taxi Squad:
Dominik Graňák (Slavia Praha, ČR)
Ronald Petrovický (Atlanta, NHL)
Branko Radivojevič (Philadelphia, NHL)

Overall, this roster isn't all that much different than what I had expected.

1. As always, goaltender remains the big question mark for the Slovaks. Krazy Karol Krizan has long conversations with his goalposts about the economics of oil prices, but he's also taken the Swedish Eliteserien by storm with some amazing goaltending. He's playing better in Sweden then he did in Slovakia, which is quite a feat. If Lasak can't play (he's been injured), I'd think Krizan could take the ball and run. Budaj doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence in me.

2. Big Milan Jurcina makes the squad in the most surprising nomination. I am amazed that former NHLer and national team stalwart Richard Lintner or Dusan Milo didn't make the squad. Jurcina is a good prospect for the Bruins, but his game is still raw.

3. Richard Kapus? Well, he probably won't play much, but he's pretty much garbage in my opinion. You folks probably don't care much about him, but more than a few Slovak fans are probably thinking "What the hell?"

4. and a final congrats to Andrej Meszaros. This isn't the first taste of international competition for Andrej, as he played for Slovakia in the World Championships a couple of years ago. It's just been a dream season for Andrej as he's adapted quickly to the NHL.



Von Dutch? D00d, that's weak! Last week!

One last note, why do Canadian sources, such as TSN, not release a full damn roster when they do a press release? Really, is it that damn hard? Obviously, it is for them as they just write a story about some of the names that make it without actually showing the whole roster in one, nice easy list.

EDIT: Many people seem to be surprised that Ziggy Palffy was left off of the roster.
Well, Palffy 'retired' from International competition after last summer, so he basically took himself off the team as he felt that he was too old and tired to play for Slovakia any longer. He's still a very effective player, so it's a bit puzzling that he chose to do this.
Then again, he is a lazy SOB...