After the NHL decided to pull its players out of the Olympics, many Canadian fans figured Canada would fail to capture the gold medal or even reach the podium (as they did in 2006 with NHL players).
Many were worried the standard of play in the renowned tournament would also take a dip for the worse and it probably will. Without players like Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Conor McDavid and T.J. Oshie the tournament will definitely lose a little magic on the ice.
The majority of the rosters for many of the nations involved will still be heavily outfitted with professional talent, whether it be players in the American Hockey League (AHL) without NHL contracts or the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and other European leagues.
When the team announced it’s players on Jan. 11, many casual hockey fans were either stumped or dismissive by the roster, deeming it unworthy or Googling the names on the roster said fans would find almost unrecognizable. With the average age of the team being 30, many younger fans would also be hitting the keyboard.
However, the team is filled with former NHL players and has the player dubbed the best hockey player not currently in the NHL, defenceman Chris Lee. In total, the team boasts a combined total of roughly over 5000 NHL games played. Only Lee and Mat Robinson (also a defenceman) have yet to play an NHL game and only defenceman Chay Genoway has played less than five games.
The defence may seem like the weakest area but all three of the defencemen mentioned above have been mainstays in the KHL and have statistically been solid. If Lee was closer to 30 and not 40, the Los Angeles Kings probably would have signed him this season after his try out during the offseason.
The most experience is in the forwards with ten players having more than 100 games under their belt and five of them have appeared in over 500 games including former Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators Chris Kelly (844), now with Belleville Senators in the AHL and former Buffalo Sabres favourite, Derek Roy (738). Roy is now with Linkopings in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
The team will be sure to perform an offensive punch in South Korea, especially with the host side and Switzerland being in their pool. Only the Czech Republic side should provide a challenge, especially if the Calgary Flames and ageing superstar Jaromir Jagr decide to part ways, allowing him to join the Czech team.
Many of the forwards aren’t known for their scoring prowess when they were in the NHL, mainly used on the bottom six as role players but have flourished under European ice which is larger than North American ice surfaces.
Linden Vey for instance only scored 14 goals in his 138 games in the NHL (mostly with Vancouver), but now with Astana Barys in the KHL has managed to bag 17 goals and 30 assists. He is in third in the league for scoring and is arguably having his best year as a professional.
The roster is full of former NHL players, most of them as role players, but most have carved themselves out as stars in lower-tier leagues. It’s also important to keep in mind the ice surfaces will be larger than the standard NHL arena and with a large contingent of European-based players, the adjustment period will be shorter.