Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel were among those selected to the 23-and-under Team North America roster for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey.
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Finland lacks the scoring punch of some of the other teams in this tournament, but the country’s squads have been consistently successful in recent years, with a medal in the past three Olympics and a gold medal in two of the last three World Junior Championships.
The World Cup of Hockey 2016 is a joint effort of the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association, in cooperation with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
Canada will bring plenty of scoring prowess, a shutdown defence and talented trio of goaltenders to the September 17-Oct.
“The history is that the real discussions take place sometime after the preceding Summer Olympics, which would be after the Rio Games conclude and World Cup”, said Fehr. The same will be expected of the Kings star at the World Cup.
“I believe that the team of under-23 will be the main opponent for us”, Fetisov, who is a two-time Olympic champion and seven-time world champion, said in an interview with TASS.
Rucinsky is taking a patient approach in hoping Jagr will play after having a lengthy conversation with the 44-year-old star last week. The Avalanche will also have players represented on the World Cup’s two most unorthodox teams. He also leads the Canadiens in average time on ice.
Price’s detractors would argue that any goaltender could have won the gold medal behind the talent on Team Canada, but Canada scored six goals in its three medal-round games.
The inclusion of this team – as well as the European squad – makes the tournament format more confusing to casual sports fans.
The top two finishers in each of Group A and Group B will advance to the Semifinals (Sept. 24-25), where each qualifier will face an elimination game against a team from the other Group.
Niklas Hjalmarsson was named to Team Sweden’s initial roster.
General manager Dean Lombardi is the leader of the USA Hockey management team and he clearly heavily learned on players from the Sochi Olympics. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Quick were named to the roster, while Phil Kessel was left off of the initial list.
The 16 players who were announced Wednesday included other National Hockey League players, including defensemen Olli Maatta of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Rasmus Ristolainen of the Buffalo Sabres and Sami Vatenen of the Anaheim Ducks.
“I think a lot can change”, Toews said with a shrug. USA Hockey’s worldwide council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), vice president of USA Hockey, has oversight responsibilities for all US teams that compete internationally … “Considering players are going to have a couple months off, you’re going to come in, have a week to get ready for the tournament and guys will be flying, coming right off the summer”.
P.K. Subban, the electric risk-and-reward Canadiens defenseman who played sparingly in Sochi, was left off the first 16 as Canada went with Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators, Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks and Marc-Edouard Vlasic of the San Jose Sharks.
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For the World Cup, the US will return the core of its 2014 Olympic team, and will be desperate to again win a major, non-junior tournament.
