Forwards: Mikkel Boedker (Denmark), Leon Draisaitl (Germany), Jannik Hansen (Denmark), Marian Hossa (Slovakia), Anze Kopitar (Slovenia), Frans Nielsen (Denmark), Tomas Tatar (Slovakia), Thomas Vanek (Austria), Mats Zuccarello (Norway). “I think they will go through this, look at the pros and cons, and then look at how they could try to take it to the next level”.
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The rosters for the teams were released today and three Nashville Predators made the first announced names.
Among the names, were three goaltenders, meaning when the rest of the roster is filled in between now and June 1, no new netminders will make it. The U.S. management group for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey includes Dean Lombardi (Ludlow, Mass./L.A. Kings) as general manager; Paul Holmgren (St. Paul, Minn./Philadelphia Flyers) as assistant general manager; Brian Burke (Edina, Minn./Calgary Flames) as senior advisor; and Jim Johannson (Colorado Springs, Colo./USA Hockey) as director of hockey operations … The United States, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden are still sending their national teams, but the other two teams are different.
“I think it suits our game more”, said Kesler, who played for Team USA in Vancouver in 2010 and in Sochi in 2014.
Fehr said the league and players will do an extensive debrief after the 2016 World Cup and planned to make some conclusions in October and beyond.
Six months before the World Cup of Hockey returns after a 12-year hiatus, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHL Players’ Association executive director Don Fehr confirmed there will be another one in 2020.
Like Canada, Sweden also boast a deep blue line and loads of talent at the forward position where playmaker Nicklas Backstrom will be among a slew of offensive threats including twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Henrik Zetterberg and Alexander Steen.
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. “That’s why we’re going to give him some time to see how he feels after the season”. Kessel has 40 points in 62 games played this season, including 19 goals and 21 assists between the Penguins and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ryan McDonagh controls the puck in front of the US bench during the preliminary round game against Russia at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games at Bolshoy Ice Dome on February 15, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. McDavid was the No. 1 pick by the Edmonton Oilers previous year in the NHL Draft and Eichel went No. 2 to the Buffalo Sabres.
Having no flag to play for has GM Miroslav Satan wondering how quickly his squad can capture a sense of identity.
Islanders left wing Nikolay Kulemin will play for Team Russia in the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in Toronto. He was an alternate captain for Team USA in the 2014 Olympics.
In addition to preliminary rosters, the National Hockey League revealed eight new Adidas brand jerseys for the worldwide tournament.
The question is whether Russian Federation can shake off the string of struggles at recent Olympics and World Cup events.
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Each team must announce 16 players Thursday, with a further seven to be added by June 1.
