Minnesotans will play a big role on the the 2016 U.S. World Cup of Hockey team.
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Twenty years after watching their childhood idols put USA Hockey back on the map with a seismic-shifting win in Canada, 16 players were officially given the chance to do it again for the United States in Canada by being named to the initial roster for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey on Wednesday. Team North America, made up of American and Canadian players age 23 and under, has the past three No. 1 picks in Connor McDavid, Aaron Ekblad and Nathan MacKinnon but didn’t have room for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers or Alex Galchenyuk of the Canadiens. Defenseman Jonas Brodin did not make the early Swedish roster.
In an interesting twist, Team Canada opted to name Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf over teammate Corey Perry. There’s still time for them to be added as each team must fill out its 23-man roster by June 1. He will be there with fellow Swiss defenseman Mark Streit from the Flyers but will be one of the youngest of a very veteran team.
Carey Price, who was in goal for the team that won gold in Sochi but has not played since suffering a lower-body injury last November, was also included on the roster.
Others selected for Team Europe were goaltenders Frederik Andersen (Ducks) and Jaroslav Halak (Islanders), defensemen Zdeno Chara, (Bruins), Roman Josi (Predators) and Andrej Sekera (Oilers) and forwards Mikkel Boedker (Avalanche), Leon Draisaitl, (Oilers), Jannik Hansen (Canucks), Frans Nielsen (Islanders), Tomas Tatar (Red Wings), Thomas Vanek (Wild) and Mats Zuccarello (Rangers).
The 2016 World Cup of Hockey will take place from September 17-Oct.
“I was a teenager then and I played in a couple games and it was an unbelievable experience for me just to see players from NHL”, Ovechkin said.
Defensemen: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Victor Hedman, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Erik Karlsson, Niklas Kronwall, Anton Stralman.
“He wants to concentrate on the rest of the season right now”, Rucinsky said after announcing his first 16 player selections Wednesday. Abdelkader has played for the U.S.in two World Championship tournaments (2012 and 2014) and the 2007 World Junior Championship. “I think guys will be excited about it”.
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was named to Team Sweden – 10 years after leading his country to a gold medal in the 2006 Turin Olympics. He has 19 goals and 40 points in 62 games this season.
Kovalchuk has been left out of the team for SKA’s last four KHL playoff games following an unspecified disciplinary issue that also resulted in two other players being sent to farm teams.
Finland announced a roster full of National Hockey League players, with forwards Mikko Koivu of the Minnesota Wild and Jussi Jokinen of the Florida Panthers joining Boston goalie Tuukka Rask.
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The Russian Hockey Federation’s 16-man roster mixes established names such as Russian Olympic team regulars Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeny Malkin with up-and-comers such as the Tampa Bay Lightning pair of Nikita Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov. The World Cup of Hockey has been conducted on two previous occasions (1996, 2004), with the USA winning the first edition in 1996.
