Canada unveils non-NHL Olympic hockey roster with pro experience, young talent
CBC
Twelve years after winning Olympic hockey gold in Vancouver, forward Eric Staal returns to lead a group of Canadian men into the Beijing tournament that begins Feb. 9.
With a strong performance, the 37-year-old might find a way back to the NHL, which pulled its players from the Olympics in December due to the disruption in the regular-season schedule as a result of rising COVID-19 cases through the league.
Staal, who had a goal and six points in seven games in the 2010 Olympic tourney, is a likely candidate to serve as captain for Team Canada, which announced its 25-player roster on Tuesday.
The free agent has been working himself into game shape on a professional tryout with the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild after helping Montreal to the Stanley Cup final last summer in his 17th NHL campaign.
Other former NHL players include forwards David Desharnais, Daniel Winnik, Josh Ho-Sang, Eric O'Dell, Ben Street and defencemen Jason Demers, Mark Barberio and Tyler Wotherspoon.
Fans got a glimpse of first-time Olympians and NHL prospects Mason McTavish and Owen Power at the world junior championship in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., before it was cancelled in December after four days because of a continued forfeiture of games due to COVID-19.
McTavish, who turns 19 on Jan. 30, played nine games with the Anaheim Ducks earlier this season and is the lone Canadian Hockey League player on the Olympic roster.
Power, a six-foot-six defenceman taken No. 1 overall in the 2021 NHL draft by the Buffalo Sabres, is in his second season at the University of Michigan. At the world juniors, the 19-year-old became the first Canadian blue-liner to score a hat trick with three goals in the team's tourney opener against Czechia.
In goal, Canada chose Devon Levi of Quebec, who boasts a 1.55 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in 24 games this season with Boston's Northeastern University in the NCAA.
The 20-year-old was a seventh-round selection by the Florida Panthers in 2020 and emerged as the starter for Canada at the 2021 world juniors.
Toronto's Edward Pasquale and Edmonton's Matt Tomkins are the other netminders. Pasquale played eight seasons in the AHL and has spent the past two-plus seasons in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. Tomkins, who has AHL and ECHL experience, is in his first season with Frolunda in the Swedish Hockey League.
Four years ago, Canada won an Olympic bronze medal without NHL players in Pyeonchang, South Korea, defeating the Czech Republic 6-4.
The Canadians grabbed an early 3-1 lead and survived a six-goal roller-coaster third period, with Andrew Ebbett and Chris Kelly leading the attack with two goals apiece.
Behind the Canadian bench in Beijing will be former Canadiens head coach Claude Julien, along with assistants Nolan Baumgartner, Jeremy Colliton and Tyler Dietrich. Former NHL power forward Shane Doan is general manager.
