Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey roster ranges from Eric Staal, a six-time NHL All-Star and 2010 Olympic gold medalist who is 37 years old, to 2021 NHL Draft No. 1 overall pick Owen Power, who is 19.
Power, a defenseman, and forward Mason McTavish, 18, are set to be the first teens to play for Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey team since future Hall of Famers Paul Kariya in 1994 and Eric Lindros in 1992, according to Olympedia.org.
Power and McTavish were on Canada’s roster for last month’s world junior championship, which was canceled during the preliminary round due to coronavirus positives within teams.
Canada’s goalies include 20-year-old Devon Levi, the top goalie from the previous year’s world junior championship, and 31-year-old Edward Pasquale, who played three games for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018 and 2019.
Justin Pogge, a 35-year-old who played seven games for the Toronto Maple Leafs 13 years ago, is the alternate goalie.
This Olympic team was originally to include Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and other NHL superstars, but the league withdrew from Olympic participation last month, citing the coronavirus pandemic disrupting the NHL regular season with 50 games canceled up to that point.
It has been 70 years since Canada won an Olympic men’s hockey title without active NHL players.
Staal is eligible because he is not on an NHL roster after spending last season with the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens.
The NHL also didn’t participate in 2018. Canada’s roster in PyeongChang was mostly veterans playing in European leagues. Nobody was under the age of 25.
Hockey Canada is going with some younger players, conjuring memories of its Olympic rosters before the NHL first participated in 1998. From 1980-94, the majority of Canada’s Olympic players were under the age of 25, according to Olympedia.
Canada’s coach is former Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien, who replaced Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper after the NHL withdrew.
Canada Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Roster
Goalies
Devon Levi
Edward Pasquale
Matt Tomkins
Defensemen
Mark Barberio
Jason Demers
Alex Grant
Brandon Gormley
Maxim Noreau
Owen Power
Mat Robinson
Tyler Wotherspoon
Forwards
Daniel Carr
Adam Cracknell
David Desharnais
Landon Ferraro
Josh Ho-Sang
Corban Knight
Jack McBain
Mason McTavish
Eric O’Dell
Eric Staal
Ben Street
Adam Tambellini
Jordan Weal
Daniel Winnik
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