P.K. Subban is widely regarded as one of the best defenceman in the NHL, but he wasn’t among the four selected to Team Canada’s preliminary World Cup of Hockey roster Wednesday. (The final spots will be filled no later than June 1.) The tournament will feature eight teams: six hockey powerhouses (Canada, the United States, Russia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland), plus a team of European players whose countries don’t have a team participating, and another team of North American players age 23 or younger.
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The reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy victor, Price was named to the team despite not having played for the Canadiens since late November because of a lower-body injury.
Chicago Blackhawks’ general manager Stan Bowman is one of the two general managers for team North America. The Avalanche will also have players represented on the World Cup’s two most unorthodox teams.
And upon seeing the names on the preliminary roster, King Henrik had a prediction.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s top goal scorer, heads the list of the first 16 players named to the roster by Team Russia. It’s a huge honor to be there and to wear the jersey. And with a quarter of the teams made up of players from multiple countries, the World Cup becomes something more complicated than a straightforward tournament to determine the best national team.
Defensemen: Zdeno Chara (Slovakia), Roman Josi (Switzerland), Dennis Seidenberg (Germany), Andrej Sekera (Slovakia), Mark Streit (Switzerland). I would expect him to be part of this team at the end of the day.
“We have a really young, talented team, and I feel like I’m nearly the oldest guy there”, the 21-year-old Teravainen said with a laugh. Stepan, 25, played in the 2014 Olympics, for the USA national team in 2011 and the junior team in 2010, which won a goal medal.
“I think it’s exciting”, Quenneville said.
Each team must announce 16 players Thursday, with a further seven to be added by June 1.
Both, after taking time to consider the matter, gave their blessing.
In other news, Jesper Fast (flu) did not join the team on the trip to Pittsburgh and likely won’t be in against Washington either.
This team is backed by all-world Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers and has the Sedin twins on offense and Erik Karlsson of the Senators and Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Coyotes for an wonderful one-two punch on defense. “There hasn’t been a World Cup since 2004, I think, and obviously, that would be a great experience for sure”.
Getzlaf was among nine forwards named to Canada’s team Wednesday. It left off players such as Phil Kessel, a high-scoring forward with Olympic experience, but can add him and others when the 23-man roster is finalized. “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”.
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Team North America (for players 23 and under) 4:15 p.m.
