Slovakians around the world are jumping for joy today after their men’s hockey team continued its remarkable run at the Olympics with a 5-2 quarterfinal victory over Germany, becoming the first nation to secure a spot in the medal round.

Slovakia has been the surprise of the tournament so far, emerging as winners of the tournament’s most difficult pool, finishing 2-1 and topping Finland and Sweden in a tiebreaker to earn the third overall seed and a bye into Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

The Slovak team entered this tournament as a bit of a mystery, with a roster featuring only seven NHL players. Perhaps the most mysterious of them all is starting goaltender Samuel Hlavaj, who currently plies his trade for the Iowa Wild of the AHL.

No one gave Slovakia a chance in this tournament, and the 24-year-old Hlavaj was one of the biggest reasons why. The 6-foot-4, 218-pound netminder is in the midst of a difficult season in Iowa. His .884 save percentage across 18 games is near the bottom of the AHL, ranking 47th out of 50 qualified goalies. What’s more, there have been some real stinkers. He’s allowed four or more goals seven times, including giving up seven in one game and six in two others.

It’s never all about the goaltending, and Iowa’s struggles this season have been well-documented. Still, Hlavaj had done nothing this season to dispel the skepticism surrounding the Slovaks as the Olympics began. As a result of his performance, The Athletic gave him a net rating of -17.8, which was the 10th worst among the tournament’s 12 starting netminders.

Hlavaj has silenced the skeptics now. He has been nothing short of spectacular. Through three starts, he’s stopped 93.2% of shots and allowed 2.67 goals per game, fueling Slovakia’s run to the medal round.

In his first start of the tournament, Hlavaj set the Slovak Olympic single-game record for saves in a game, stopping 38 shots in a 4-1 upset over Finland. In his next start against Sweden, he broke his own record by stopping 46 of 51 shots in a 5-3 defeat. He followed that up with another strong performance on Wednesday, stopping 25 of 27 shots in Slovakia’s quarterfinal victory.  

It’s telling that he was given the start in both of Slovakia’s difficult games in the preliminary round, only sitting out against the lightly-regarded Italians. He has earned the full trust of the coaching staff, and with good reason.  

While Hlavaj’s excellent run of play in these Olympics might be a surprise to hockey fans and analysts, it’s not for the Slovaks. For them, this is just the latest example of his ability to consistently play at a high level in international hockey.  

Over the past four seasons of international play, including the World Championships, Olympic qualification, and the Olympics, Hlavaj has a 2.26 GAA and .926 SV% in 19 games, playing for the national team of a country generally considered a second-tier hockey nation.

2023: 2.22 GAA, .932 SV% in 3 games (World Championship)

2024: 2.25 GAA, .926 SV% in 8 games (World Championship and Olympic Qualifiers)

2025: 1.99 GAA, .912 SV% in 5 games (World Championship)

2026: 2.67 GAA, .932 SV% in 3 games (Olympics)

Despite his struggles this season, there were signs leading up to the Olympics that Hlavaj’s game was starting to turn around. In his last six games before the break, he produced a save percentage of over 90% in five of them, something that had only happened three times in his first 12 games. His overall save percentage during that recent six-game stretch was a solid 90.58%, despite facing an average of nearly 32 shots per game.

It’s also worth remembering that Hlavaj was one of the organization’s most pleasant surprises last season, when he emerged as a legitimate prospect by posting a 2.85 GAA and .904 SV% in 36 games played in the AHL after starting the season for the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders.

From a statistical standpoint, there’s a legitimate chance that this year in Iowa is an anomaly, and that Hlavaj’s previous seasons provide a better indication of the type of goaltender he has a chance to be. 

Since he turned pro as a 20-year-old, Hlavaj’s save percentages by season have been:

2021-22: .912%, in 28 games (9 in Slovak Extraliga, 18 in Slovak 2nd league

2022-23: .915% in 24 games (18 in Slovak Extraliga, 6 in Slovak 2nd league)

2023-24: .903% in 28 games (Czech Extraliga)

2024-25: .902% in 41 games (36 in AHL, 5 in ECHL)

While Hlavaj’s stats have taken a bit of a dip as he’s moved up levels, it’s worth noting that he’s been a young goaltender in each league in which he’s played, and was a rookie in each of the past two seasons. 

The average age among AHL goaltenders is usually around 25, and is about 27 in the Czech Extraliga, and the fact that Hlavaj has risen rapidly through professional leagues as an undrafted goaltender provides hope for his potential as a future NHL backstop. As such, it looks like there’s still plenty of room for him to grow. 

While he likely doesn’t project to be a starting goaltender in the NHL, his solid track record, combined with his size and athleticism are enough to think his ceiling might lead him to the world’s best league at some point. 

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