One of the Calgary Flames’ most exciting young players will be suiting up in late August for a major international tournament. Hockey Slovakia announced on Tuesday on social media that Martin Pospisil will be part of their national team as they compete in the Olympic qualifying tournament.
(They haven’t announced their full roster yet, but they’re announcing a few key names on their Instagram as tickets for the tournament go on sale.)
Nine of the 12 spots in the men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics have been sewn up, leaving three remaining. Slovakia is hosting one of three round robin tournaments (each featuring four teams) for the final three spots. The other two qualifying tournaments will be hosted by Latvia and Denmark. All three tournaments take place Aug. 29-Sept. 1. Slovakia will be facing Austria, Hungary and Kazakhstan in their pool.
The Olympic qualifiers will be the fourth time that Pospisil has represented his nation in a major event. He previously suited up in the Under-18 World Championships in 2017, the 2019 World Junior Championships and, more recently, at the 2024 World Hockey Championships. He was tied for third on his team in scoring at the Worlds, posting seven points in seven games. It’s reasonable to assume that if Pospisil helps Slovakia qualify for the Olympic tournament, he’ll be suiting up in it as well. (Pospisil’s big brother, Kristian, represented Slovakia in the 2022 Olympics, so we’ll see if he joins his little brother for qualifying.)
Pospisil, 24, is in the middle of a career breakout. After a strong start to the 2023-24 season with the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers, he was called up to the Flames at the beginning of November and never looked back. He found a niche alongside Connor Zary and Nazem Kadri, and ultimately posted eight goals and 24 points over 63 games (along with 109 penalty minutes). Pospisil is, to be polite, an agitator, and we’ll see how well his physical game can translate to IIHF competition, where the rulebook is called a bit more closely.
Nevertheless, it’s a really exciting honour for Pospisil, and a sign of how far he’s come as he continues to progress early in his pro career.
