MILAN (AP) — Juraj Slafkovsky has been here before. He was tournament MVP in 2022 when, at 17, he led Slovakia to its first medal of any color at the Olympics with bronze in Beijing.

That was without NHL participation. This time, players from the best league in the world are taking part, and Slovakia will again be playing for a medal after reaching the semifinals.

“It’s probably 100 times better," Slafkovsky said after beating Germany in the quarterfinals. “You’ve got the best players over here, and we managed to come here and go to semifinals. It’s big for me, big for our country.”

It also came out of nowhere. Slafkovsky is just 21, Dalibor Dvorsky is 20 and Simon Nemec is 22. This was supposed to be a learning experience to build on for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey and the 2030 Olympics in the French Alps.

Instead, Slafkovsky and Dvorsky are leading the way with hockey's best underdog story in Milan.

“In a tournament like this, underdogs can bite really hard, so we are really happy where are right now,” Pavol Regenda said after scoring twice in a quarterfinal victory over Germany. “Coming into the tournament, seeing the roster, I don’t think anybody believed us. And probably neither did we.”

A generation ago, Slovakia was in the mix with a lot of bigger countries at a time when the likes of Zdeno Chara, Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra and Miroslav Satan were in their primes. There was a talent dry spell for a bit before this generation of Slovak talent emerged.

Slafkovsky is at the leading edge of that, in his fourth NHL season with the Montreal Canadiens and the first playing on an eight-year, $60.8 million contract. He's Slovakia's leading scorer with seven points, and only four players have more points at this Olympic.

“He is a great player," defenseman Martin Fehervary said. "We didn’t have that type of player for a long, long time in Slovakia. We just got to be really, really happy and thrilled that we’ve got that type of player.”

Dvorsky, who plays for the St. Louis Blues, has six points in four games and is also a big reason Slovakia is in the semifinals, with a showdown against the unbeaten U.S. up next Friday. But coach Vladimir Orszagh and his players have stressed from the time they stepped on the ice together that Slovakia's success is not about any individual over the collective of the team.

“If we want to be successful, it just can’t be about a couple guys,” Orszagh said. “Our team is not about a couple guys. Our team is about the 22 guys or 25 guys that we have on the roster. They work, they stick together on the ice and every day somebody else is a hero. But, for me, all the guys are heroes.”

Slovakia beat Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho and Finland in the preliminary round, then Leon Draisaitl and Germany in the quarterfinals. That kind of competition didn't exist four years ago, so players are glad they can do this on an international stage with the spotlight shining on them.

“You can’t compare that," Nemec said. “This is the fastest hockey I ever played. It’s different tournament, and we came here to defend the bronze medal and we’re still in that mix. It's good for us.”

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics