ARLINGTON, VA — Martin Fehervary’s Olympic experience didn’t capture the media attention of the USA-Canada rivalry, but he and Team Slovakia proved to be a formidable force in Milan. Coming into the tournament with low expectations and just seven NHL players on its roster, Slovakia punched above its weight class on the way to a fourth-place finish.
Fehervary reflected on his time in Italy after his first practice back with the Capitals on Tuesday morning. Now three days removed from an emotional loss to Finland in the Bronze Medal game, he was able to look back at the Games with pride.
“Our odds were not really great before the tournament,” he said. “We went (into) pretty much all the games as an underdog. But I felt like we had such a good group of guys. We were just enjoying the time together and battling for each other. And the results kind of came step by step. Overall, we just had so much fun, and it was a great experience.”
When he wasn’t competing, Fehervary said he mostly spent time visiting with friends and family who made the trip to Italy, though he occasionally crossed paths with fellow Caps Olympians Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson.
“Once in a while we (ran) into each other,” Fehervary said. “We didn’t have much time to kind of hang out. They were at the hotel, they weren’t at the village, so I just saw them a couple times in the village, they went to take a lunch, but nothing crazy.”
Fehervary is no stranger to representing his country: he’s thrice competed in World Juniors tournaments and gone to four World Championships, growing up alongside many of his Olympic teammates. None of that, however, was quite like Milan.
“I mean, it was not my first international (tournament), right? But the Olympics is completely different,” he said. “All the athletes you can see in a village, and how the people are talking about it. Everyone is just really, really excited about it. It’s nice to be there and have that experience. I’m really happy I could have done it, and hopefully I’ll do a couple more.”
Slovakia had won bronze at the 2022 Games in Beijing, medaling for the first time in the country’s history, but that was at a tournament without NHL players. Fehervary was just 14 years old when Slovakia last competed in best-on-best Olympic hockey in 2014, and that team went winless for a second-to-last finish in Sochi.
When Fehervary thinks about past Olympics, however, he remembers Slovakia’s fourth-place finish at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
“When I was growing up, I always looked up (to) all the NHL Slovakian players, like (Lubomir) Visnovsky, (Marian) Hossa, (Zdeno) Chara. And in 2010, they made the same place as we did in Milan. I remember when I was young, and we were watching it after practice, there was an overtime, or the shootout game against Russia, and Pavol Demitra scored a really nice goal.”
More than half his lifetime later, Fehervary has made his own mark on Slovakia’s hockey history. Less than a month after becoming a father, he served as alternate captain on a young, upstart Olympic squad in Milan that won its group and advanced to the medal round. He averaged the second-most ice time on the team (21:01) and earned four assists in six games, tying the Slovakian record for points by a defenseman in an Olympic tournament with NHL players.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery praised both Fehervary and his teammates for their showing in Milan.
“Marty plays such a big role on that team, and he has for so many years, on their national team,” Carbery said. “What an impressive run they went on. Come up a little bit short in the game yesterday, but if anybody had Slovakia winning [the same] pool as Finland and Sweden, right?
“They win the pool, win another game, they end up in the semifinals. I think what they did, if you were evaluating every country in performance and giving them a letter grade, I think Slovakia would be at the top of anybody’s list of, they overachieved what expectations were.”
Much like the team itself, Slovakia’s fans made their presence known at the Games, mustering an outsized cheering section for a nation of just 5.4 million.
“We know our Slovakian fans are really, really crazy and they’re really passionate about the hockey,” Fehervary said. “So we knew they were going to probably come for all the games, and it’s going to be pretty much all Slovakian people, and that’s how it was. We just enjoyed (it). We’re doing (this) for fans, right? For the most part. It’s great to see the people are cheering for you and how supportive everyone is back home, and it was just so nice to see.”
Even just watching on television half a world away, Dylan Strome said Slovakia’s crowds stood out.
“I watched that first game against Finland, and you just saw how many Slovakian fans were there,” Strome said. “The building was loud the entire time. Those European hockey fans are crazy, and they’re cheering the whole game. So it’s cool to watch, and it’s cool to see the national pride for sure.”
Fehervary and his teammates’ success will only make that enthusiasm stronger. After the bronze medal loss, Carbery texted Fehervary to highlight the impact Slovakia’s improbable run will have on growing the sport down the line, especially as the country looks to prove itself as a major hockey powerhouse.
“He should be so proud because there’s young Slovakian kids that watch their country compete and watch Marty Fehervary wear a letter on his jersey, and do everything he could for his country,” Carbery said. “They watch that, and they go, ‘I want to play that sport, mom or dad. I want to go out and skate.’ And that’s what growing the game is all about.”
Just as Fehervary remembers Demitra’s performance in Vancouver, he can serve as a role model for the next generation of players.
“It’s just so nice to see all the young kids, how they like the hockey,” Fehervary said. “I think hockey is (the) number one sport in Slovakia. So I hope there’s going to be more people and more young kids going to play hockey, and hopefully we’re going to have more talented guys coming out.”
