Slovak man who traveled to Winter Olympics to cheer on hockey team arrested after 16 years on lam

A Slovakian native was in Italy this week, 16 years after prosecutors in the country issued a warrant against him.

The 44-year-old unidentified man traveled to Milan to watch his native country’s Olympic hockey team take on medal favorite Finland, which wound up being a tremendous 4-1 upset victory for the Slovaks.

However, he never got a chance to see the Slovaks’ version of the “Miracle on Ice.”

Police said they tracked down the suspect after he checked into a guesthouse in the Milan suburbs, then escorted him to the central San Vittore Prison before he could attend the game.

The warrant stemmed from a string of alleged shop thefts in 2010. He now has 11 months, seven days to serve, according to police.

Perhaps the fan wanted to try to bring some piece of home to his hockey team, as they are set to face the hosts in Italy on Friday. They’ll close out the preliminary round on Saturday against Sweden, another squad that could most definitely compete for the gold medal.

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Slovakia won the bronze medal in Beijing when NHL players were not yet allowed to compete. Now, they are led by Montreal Canadiens superstar Juraj Slafkovsky, who actually does have Olympic experience.

Slafkovsky competed in 2022, as he had not yet been in the NHL. He was 17 at the time, the youngest player in the Olympics, yet still managed to be the Olympics’ points leader and the tournament’s most valuable player.

Slafovsky scored twice against Finland, and Dalibor Dvorsky of the St. Louis Blues got the game-winning goal with less than 13 minutes left.

Unfortunately, one fan won’t be able to see the gang in action.

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