After naming Willie Desjardins as their head coach for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games, Hockey Canada unveiled two separate team rosters, one for each of the pre-Olympic tournaments Canada will play this August in Russia.
Hockey Canada’s brass will evaluate players at the Sochi Hockey Open from August 5-9 with their first 24-man roster on the ice, and again less than a week later, at the Tournament of Nikolai Puchkov in St. Petersburg from August 14-17 with a fresh squad of 23.
A cast of former-NHL talent populated the lines for Canada’s first rosters, including two Stanley Cup winners – Max Talbot who won the Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009 and Daniel Paille who won with the Bruins in 2011.
Other players with significant NHL playing pasts included forwards Mason Raymond, Derek Roy and Linden Vey along with defenders Carlo Colaiacovo, Cam Barker and Kevin Klein.
Three goalies were named to the two teams. Kevin Poulin – the one time New York Islander and Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender – has his name listed for both tournaments. Justin Peters and Ben Scrivens, with a combined 227 games in the NHL, round out Canada’s netminders.
Many of the men on both rosters play their regular season in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), while others compete in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) and Switzerland’s National League (NLA).
Check out Team Canada’s full rosters for the 2017 Sochi Hockey Open and 2017 Tournament of Nikolai Puchkov.
2017 Sochi Hockey Open Roster
| Player | Position | Current League |
|---|---|---|
| Justin Azevedo | F | KHL |
| Gilbert Brule | F | KHL |
| Brandon Buck | F | DEL |
| Kevin Clark | F | SHL |
| Andrew Ebbett | F | NLA |
| Bud Holloway | F | SHL |
| Rob Klinkhammer | F | KHL |
| Brandon Kozun | F | KHL |
| Ben Maxwell | F | KHL |
| Brandon McMillan | F | KHL |
| Eric O’Dell | F | KHL |
| Daniel Paille | F | SHL |
| Mason Raymond | F | NLA |
| Max Talbot | F | KHL |
| Linden Vey | F | KHL |
| Chay Genoway | D | KHL |
| Geoff Kinrade | D | KHL |
| Patrick McNeill | D | DEL |
| Maxim Noreau | D | NLA |
| Mat Robinson | D | KHL |
| Jonathan Sigalet | D | SHL |
| Karl Stollery | D | KHL |
| Justin Peters | G | KHL |
| Kevin Poulin | G | KHL |
2017 Tournament of Nikolai Puchkov Roster
| Player | Position | Current League |
|---|---|---|
| Taylor Beck | F | KHL |
| Sean Collins | F | KHL |
| Cory Emmerton | F | NLA |
| Ryan Garbutt | F | KHL |
| Andrew Gordon | F | KHL |
| David McIntyre | F | NLA |
| Jacob Micflikier | F | NLA |
| Trevor Parkes | F | NLA |
| Marc-Antoine Pouliot | F | NLA |
| Derek Roy | F | SHL |
| Greg Scott | F | KHL |
| Paul Szczechura | F | KHL |
| James Wright | F | KHL |
| Cam Barker | D | KHL |
| Carlo Colaiacovo | D | DEL |
| Stefan Elliott | D | KHL |
| Marc-Andre Gragnani | D | KHL |
| Kevin Klein | D | NLA |
| Shawn Lalonde | D | DEL |
| Craig Schira | D | SHL |
| Kevin Poulin | G | KHL |
| Ben Scrivens | G | KHL |
