USA Hockey provided a look at a large chunk of its potential Olympic men’s roster in announcing the team for its only pre-Olympic tournament.
Brian Gionta and Ryan Malone, forwards on the 2006 and 2010 Olympic teams, respectively, and the KHL’s top goalie, Ryan Zapolski, headline the 29-man squad for the Deutschland Cup in Germany next month.
All three were previously confirmed by USA Hockey as being on its Olympic team radar.
In all, 21 of the 29 players have NHL game experience, combining for 4,878 career NHL regular-season games, or 168 games per player. None of the three goalies named have played in the NHL.
The Deutschland Cup roster includes top Americans playing in European leagues, plus Gionta, a 15-year NHL veteran currently unsigned, and Malone, an 11-year NHL veteran in the AHL. Gionta is practicing with the AHL’s Rochester Americans to stay sharp.
The U.S. Olympic team of 25 players, to be named around Jan. 1, is expected to include Europe-based players as well as some NCAA players and those in the AHL who aren’t on NHL contracts.
Zapolski is the standout U.S. goalie playing abroad, leading the KHL in wins (16-1 record), save percentage (.956), goals-against average (1.11) and shutouts (five).
Gionta, 38, and Malone, 37, are older than all but one previous U.S. Olympic hockey player (Chris Chelios, who played at age 40 in 2002 and 44 in 2006 and is an assistant on the PyeongChang team).
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Deutschland Cup Roster
Goalies
David Leggio (German League) -- NHL Games: 0
Brandon Maxwell (Czech League) -- NHL Games: 0
Ryan Zapolski (KHL) -- NHL Games: 0
Defensemen
Mark Stuart (German League) -- NHL Games: 673
Tom Gilbert (German League) -- NHL Games: 655
Mike Lundin (KHL) -- NHL Games: 252
Matt Gilroy (KHL) -- NHL Games: 225
Jonathon Blum (KHL) -- NHL Games: 110
Dylan Reese (Swedish League) -- NHL Games: 78
Noah Welch (Swedish League) -- NHL Games: 75
Matt Donovan (Swedish League) -- NHL Games: 67
Bobby Sanguinetti (Swiss League) -- NHL Games: 45
Chad Billins (Swedish League) -- NHL Games: 10
Ryan Gunderson (Swedish League) -- NHL Games: 0
Forwards
Brian Gionta (unsigned) -- NHL Games: 1,006
Ryan Malone (AHL) -- NHL Games: 647
Jim Slater (Swiss League) -- NHL Games: 584
Mark Arcobello (Swiss League) -- NHL Games: 139
Drew Shore (Swiss League) -- NHL Games: 94
Dan Sexton (KHL) -- NHL Games: 88
Robbie Earl (Swiss League) -- NHL Games: 47
Ryan Stoa (KHL) -- NHL Games: 40
Brian O’Neill (KHL) -- NHL Games: 22
Andy Miele (Swedish League) -- NHL Games: 15
Chad Kolarik (German League) -- NHL Games: 6
Sean Backman (German League) -- NHL Games: 0
Ryan Lasch (Swedish League) -- NHL Games: 0
Broc Little (Swiss League) -- NHL Games: 0
Garrett Roe (Swiss League) -- NHL Games: 0