I can’t wait for Team Canada to take the ice for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Not!
With the NHL turning its nose at the international competition since its players first competed at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, Canada — and every other nation — will ice a team that is comprised of players from other leagues.
Hockey Canada released its roster of 26 players for a tournament in Helsinki, Finland, next month (Nov. 8-12) that will be used to evaluate players ahead of the Olympics in February.
Canada’s roster features a few former Maple Leafs, including goalie Ben Scrivens, forwards Matt Frattin and Mason Raymond, and defenceman Jesse Blacker.
Other players listed on the roster are former Buffalo Sabres forward Derek Roy, NHL journeyman René Bourque and former Hamilton Bulldogs forward Christian Thomas.
For the most part, however, there are players on the list that you’ve probably never heard of, like Matt Ellison, Dylan Sikura, Karl Stollery, Zach Whitecloud, and Geoff Kinrade.
I recall waking up in the wee hours of the morning during the ’98 Nagano Olympics to watch Wayne Gretzky and Team Canada take on the best from around the world.
No offence, but nobody will be getting up before the sun rises to watch a bunch of has-beens and never-was players.
Isn’t the Olympics about cheering on athletes who can go, as its motto suggests, “Faster, Higher, Stronger?”
So much for that.