Olympic Journey Ends In Shock Defeat For Maple Grove Hockey Star

MAPLE GROVE, MN — The U.S. men’s hockey team was knocked out of the 2022 Winter Olympics early Wednesday morning after a shootout loss to Slovakia.

That defeat ended dreams of triumph for the 25 non-NHL players who stepped up to represent the U.S., including Maple Grove native Brock Faber.

Faber notched an assist in his debut at the Olympics in Beijing as the U.S. dominated hosts China 8-0 in the opening game.

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The 19-year-old defenseman for the University of Minnesota Gophers played more than 73 minutes on the ice as the U.S. earned top spot in its preliminary group, after also picking up wins over Canada and Germany.

In each of the U.S. men’s hockey team’s four games at the Olympics, Faber racked up the most playing time of any player, except the goalkeeper.

He played 25 minutes and 45 seconds as the U.S. fell to a shock 3-2 loss to Slovakia in the quarterfinal round.

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Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovský scored about 12 minutes into the first period to put his country up 1-0 over the U.S., who leveled just before the end of the period with a goal from Nick Abruzzese.

The U.S. took a 2-1 lead over Slovakia in the second period through a Sam Hentges goal, assisted by his St. Cloud State University teammate Nick Perbix.

That lead stood for more than 30 minutes and the U.S. was on course for its first trip to the Olympic semifinals since 2014. But Slovakia’s Marek Hrivik tied the game at 2-2 with just 43 seconds left after Slovakia pulled its goalie and played with an empty net.

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After a scoreless overtime period, the game went to a best-of-five shootout, where Slovakia prevailed after scoring the only goal.

The first four Americans in the shootout failed to score, as did the first three Slovakians. Peter Cehlárik scored in the fourth round of the shootout to put Slovakia ahead, and the U.S. could not reply on its final shot, ending their Olympics at the quarterfinal stage.

David Quinn, head coach of the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team, said after the game he “could not be prouder of this group and the way they came together and represented our country.”

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The U.S. men's hockey team called up NCAA stars and players from European leagues after the NHL opted out of sending its players to the Beijing Olympics due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Just one player on the squad boasted Olympic experience two weeks ago.

“Losing the game is a tough pill to swallow, but when you get to the quarterfinals of the Olympics, there are a lot of good teams and certainly credit (to) Slovakia,” Quinn said. “This was a terrific group of players and they’ll always be Olympians.”