{"id":474117,"date":"2026-02-27T01:30:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T01:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/474117\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T01:30:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T01:30:47","slug":"jaccob-slavin-delivers-powerful-message-on-gods-presence-in-olympic-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/474117\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaccob Slavin Delivers Powerful Message on God\u2019s Presence in Olympic Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jaccob Slavin approached the microphone and sheepishly removed the gold medal from his neck. A voice in the crowd shouted for him to keep it on, and so he put it back on.<\/p>\n

That quiet moment of humility, not wanting to wear the Olympic medal as he spoke to the media, said a lot about the Carolina Hurricanes\u2019 star defenseman- something many who have followed his career already know. But the message that followed spoke volumes about the man behind Team USA\u2019s perfect Olympic penalty kill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think first and foremost, you guys know me,\u201d Slavin said shortly after opening his presser<\/a>. \u201cYou know where I stand with my faith, and my purpose in the game of hockey, and being able to have my family there to enjoy it with me\u2026We give all the glory to God.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such an amazing time, such a wonderful experience being able to glorify Him on a world stage, and to win gold doing it was so much fun. And so, whether we won gold, whether we didn\u2019t, we were still gonna praise Him and give Him all the glory.\u201d<\/p>\n

It had been a long road for Slavin.<\/p>\n

In the offseason, he sustained an injury during summer training. The lower-body injury proved to be a hurdle for the 31-year-old defenseman, keeping him out of the Hurricanes\u2019 lineup for 29 games. Then, just two games after his return, he suffered an upper-body injury against the Florida Panthers, which led him to miss another 10 games.<\/p>\n

It was a lingering question whether he would even be a member of Team USA for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games<\/a> at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just look at it with gratitude\u2026just thankful for God, and protecting me while I was over there, but also through this season with the injuries that I had at the beginning of the year; just trusting his timing with it all, and getting to a spot where I was healthy enough to go and play.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, again, I look at it with gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the injuries, the overall lack of ice time due to said injuries, and the pressure of so many high-stakes games, Slavin was one of the best players on the ice throughout the tournament. He shut down chances, provided key plays during the penalty kill, and finished the games a +4 in plus\/minus. He played with full confidence, as if he hadn\u2019t missed a beat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for me, it just puts it all in perspective, honestly,\u201d he told the media. \u201cGoing to the Olympics and being able to compete on a world stage, it doesn\u2019t build the nerves for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing that whether it\u2019s the Olympic gold medal game, or whether it\u2019s an NHL preseason game, my mindset is still the same of \u2018I want to glorify God with the abilities He\u2019s given me\u2019, and play with the confidence he instills in me \u2013 knowing that I\u2019m not playing for the media, I\u2019m not playing for the approval of fans, of coaches, of players, or whatever it is; I\u2019m not out there searching for their approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m out there to play for Him and glorify Him, regardless of performance. And knowing that whatever my performance is, He\u2019s still going to love me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slavin put up quite the performance, even including some valuable offensive efforts amidst his defensive prowess. In the game against Denmark, he provided the secondary assist on Team USA\u2019s first goal of the game \u2013 a key play to get them rolling towards a 6-3 victory early in the competition.<\/p>\n

But for Slavin, he spoke on what he has already gotten that is far more important than winning a gold medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t take this to the grave with me when I die,\u201d he said as he tugged on the gold medal that hung around his neck. \u201cAs much as an honor it is to win this, and be able to do it representing the USA, I know it\u2019s something that\u2019s fleeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, I know that it\u2019s going to pass, but the joy of the Lord is what lasts forever for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\"avatar\"<\/p>\n

\t\tRachel Barkley is a beat writer covering the Carolina Hurricanes for Carolina Hockey Now on Sportsnaut. Painting stories with … More about Rachel Barkley<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jaccob Slavin approached the microphone and sheepishly removed the gold medal from his neck. A voice in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5107],"tags":[3189,194,29,5176,5,195,4,3255],"class_list":{"0":"post-474117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-hurricanes","8":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","9":"tag-carolina","10":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","11":"tag-carolinahurricanes","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-hurricanes","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-team-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116140015349497444","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}