Jim Slater will compete in his first Winter Olympics.
The Lapeer, Mich. native played for Michigan State University, was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers (which became the Winnipeg Jets) in the 2002 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft, where he spent the duration of his career before moving to play in the National League for HC Fribourg-Gottéron as a professional ice hockey center.
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Event: Forward for Men's Hockey Team
Hometown: Lapeer, Mich.
Olympics: PyeongChang 2018
Slater is also the son of Bill Slater, a defensive lineman in the National Football League.
Jim Slater of the Winnipeg Jets skates down the ice during warmup before an NHL game against the Boston Bruins at the MTS Centre on April 10, 2014 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Marianne Helm/Getty Images)
On Monday it was announced that former MSU hockey standout, @slaterjim, has been named to the United States Olympic Hockey Team, so we wanted to grab some of his highlights from our archives. Catch @MSU_Hockey as they take on the No. 8 Buckeyes tonight in Munn at 7:05! #GoGreen pic.twitter.com/TVcsJuOnLI
— Spartan Vision (@Spartan_Vision) January 5, 2018
The state of Michigan will be represented by 14 athletes including:
- Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani -- Event: Ice Dance
- Madison Chock and Evan Bates -- Event: Ice Dance
- Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue -- Event: Ice Dance
- Jessica Kooreman -- Event: Short Track Speed Skating -- 1,000m race and 1,500 meter race
- Megan Keller -- Event: Defender for Women's Ice Hockey
- James Wisniewski -- Event: Defender for Men's Hockey
- Chad Billins -- Event: Defender for Men's Hockey Team
- Jim Slater -- Event: Forward for Men's Hockey Team
- Kyle Mack -- Event: Snowboarding Slopestyle and Big Air
- Ryan Pivirotto -- Event: Short Track Speed Skating
- Nick Baumgartner -- Event: Snowboardcross