Olympics: With NHL players back on rosters, men's hockey begins in Milan

MILAN — Martin Fehervary was still catching his breath. Fresh off the ice from playing in the first men's hockey game at the Milan Cortina Olympics, he knew he wasn't in North America anymore. "The pace of the game was really fast," Fehervary said. "I felt like it was even faster than in the NHL." The return of the best players in the world to the Olympics got off to a frantic, fast-paced start Wednesday when Slovakia upset Finland in the first of 30 games in the tournament that will conclude with the gold medal final Feb. 22. The NHL is participating in the Games for the first time in 12 years going back to Sochi in 2014, ending a long wait for stars from all over the world. "It's been a long buildup," Sweden coach Sam Hallam said. "I'm definitely going to feel the butterflies walking out to the bench." Sweden faced Italy in prime time, in front of a crowd that was expected to give the home team a loud boost as a prohibitive underdog. "We play against teams that have full NHL rosters," said Italy winger Dustin Gazley, a Michigan native who is one of several foreigners on the roster. "We know that. But we came together as a team and we've been pushing pretty hard and the best we can do is give our 100 percent for our team and do what we can on the ice and have fun out there and hopefully we can be successful." The tournament favorites get underway today. The U.S. faces Latvia, while Canada takes on Czechia. "It's been a long process, but we're very excited to have a game," U.S. general manager Bill Guerin said. "The players are really looking forward to it. They need a game. They want a game. Just really looking forward to getting started." They got to sit and watch what it might be like to take center stage at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, which was nearly filled to the capacity of 11,600 by the time Finland's Anton Lundell and Slovakia's Adam Ruzicka lined up for the opening faceoff 20 minutes before 5 p.m. local time. The crowd roared in the opening moments when scoring chances materialized and gasped when Slovakia goaltender Samuel Hlavaj stopped a slap shot from point-blank range. "It was awesome," Hlavaj said after his team's 4-1 win. "It felt like we were playing at the home rink." Juraj Slafkovsky scored the first men's hockey goal in Milan for Slovakia just under eight minutes in, picking up where he left off in Beijing four years ago. He scored again in the third period, setting off a boisterous crowd that was wired from the start and even at one point did the wave. More importantly than that, the fans were loud — and players noticed. "I didn't really expect anything like that (or) close it," Slovakia defenseman and two-time Stanley Cup champion Erik Cernak said. "They were amazing. It felt like we were playing at home. There was so many Slovakian fans and everybody, so I'm glad they came here and supported us and hopefully we gave them a great show."