With men's Olympic ice hockey about to get underway in Sochi, Russia, a lot of teammates have been scattered onto other teams trading in their NHL team's logo for the colors of their countries for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and the following is a country-by-country list of which NHL players are playing in the Winter Olympics.
Team Canada:
The defending gold medalists boast a huge amount of NHL talent and depth. According to NHL.com, these are the current projected lines for Team Canada:
On the top line, Sidney Crosby centers Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Chris Kunitz and Jeff Carter of the Philadelphia Flyers. On the second grouping, Jonathan Toews is in between Chicago Blackhawks teammate Patrick Sharp and Rick Nash of the New York Rangers. The third trio consists of Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks on the left, the Anaheim Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf in the middle and his teammate Corey Perry on the right. The fourth line is projected to be a comination of Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars on the left, New York Islanders captain John Tavares and Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins. Extra forwards on the team include Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche.
On defense, Team Canada has P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadiens, Duncan Keith (Blackhawks), Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues' bluliners Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester, Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators, Dan Hamhuis of the Vancouver Canucks and Marc-Edouard Vlasic of the San Jose Sharks.
In between the pipes, Canada boasts Carey Price (Canadiens), Roberto Luongo (Canucks) and Mike Smith (Phoenix Coyotes).
Team Russia:
The hosting Russians have some of the NHL's greatest talents as they look to win the gold medal in front of what promises to be a partisan crowd.
The projected top line for Russia includes Alex Ovechkin from the Washington Capitals on the left with former teammate and current memer of the Carolina Hurricanes on the right with Evgeni Malkin (Penguins) in the middle. The second line contains no current NHL players, but does have former New Jersey Devil ilya Kovalchuk. The third line is projected to boast the trio of NIkolai Kulemin of the Toronto Maple Leafs on the left, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Artem Anisimov down the middle and Vladimir Tarasenko of the Blues on the right. Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings is banged up and likely to be an extra.
On defense, Russia has NHLers Anton Belov (Edmonton Oilers), Alexei Emlin and Andrei Markov of the Canadiens, Nikita Nikitin and Fedor Tyutin of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Slava Voynov of the Kings.
In between the pipes, Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche are the two NHL representatives.
Team U.S.A.:
The projected top line for Team U.S.A. is Max Pacioretty (MON), Ryan Kesler (VAN) and Patrick Kane (CHI) while James van Riemsdyk (TOR), Joe Pavelski (SJ) and Phil Kessel (TOR) will likely make up the second line. The third trio consists of Zach Parise (MIN), David Backes (STL) and Ryan Callahan (NYR) while the fourth line will likely include Paul Stastny (COL) centering Dustin Brown (LAK) and T.J. Oshie (STL). Blake Wheeler (STL) and Derek Stepan (NYR) are extra forwards from the NHL.
On defense, U.S.A. looks to John Carlson (WAS), Justin Faulk (CAR), Cam Fowler (ANA), Paul Martin (PIT), Ryan McDonagh (NYR), Brooks Orpik (PIT), Kevin Shattenkirk (STL) and Ryan Suter (MIN).
Between the pipes, the team looks to Jonathan Quick (LAK), Ryan MIller (BUF) and Jimmy Howard (DET).
Team Sweden:
Sweden's NHL forwards include Gabriel Landeskog (COL), Henrik Zetterberg (DET), Alexander Steen (STL), Daniel Sedin (VAN), Nicklas Backstrom (WAS), Loui Erikson (BOS), Gustav Nyquist (DET), Patrik Berglund (STL), Daniel Alfredsson (DET), Carl Hagelin (NYR), Marcus Krueger (CHI), Marcus Johnasson (WAS), Jakub Silfverberg (ANA).
On defense, the team turns to Alexander Edler (VAN), Oliver-Ekman Larsson (PHO), Jonathan Ericsson (DET), Niklas Hjalmarsson (CHI), Erik Karlsson (OTT), Niklas Kronwall (DET), Johnny Oduya (CHI) and Henrik Talinder (BUF).
In net, the Swedes boast Henrik Lundqvist (NYR), Jonas Gustavson (DET) and Jhonas Enroth (BUF).
Czech Republic:
The NHL forwards on the Czech team include Patrik Elias (NJD), Tomas Plekanec (MON), Jaromir Jagr (NJD), MIlan Michalek (OTT), David Krejci (BOS), Jakub Voracek (PHI), Martin Hanzal (PHO), Ales Hemsky (EDM), Martin Erat (WAS) and Michael Frolik (WPG).
On defense, Czech has Marek Zidlicky (NJD), Ladislav Smid (CGY), Michael Rozsival (CHI), Zbynek Michalek (PHX) and Radko Gudos (TBL).
In net, the team has Ondrej Pavelec from the Winnipeg Jets as its only representative.
Team Finland:
At forward, Team Finland has NHLers Jussi Jokinen (PIT), Olli Jokinen (WPG), Tuomo Ruutu (OTT), MIkael Grantlund (MIN), Teemu Selanne (ANA), Lauri Korpikoski (PHO) and Aleksander Barkov (MON).
On defense, current NHLers are Sami Salo (VAN) and Kimmo Timonen (PHI).
In goal, Finland has Kari Lehtonen (DAL), Antti Niemi (SJS) and Tuukka Rask (BOS).
Team Slovakia:
Slovakia turns to Thomas Kpecky (FLA), Michal Handzus (CHI), Marian Hossa (CHI), Tomas Tatar (DET), Richard Panik (TBL) and Tomas Jurco (DET).
On defense, the Slovaks have Zdeno Chara (BOS), Martin Marincin (EDM), Andrej Meszaros (PHI) and Andrej Sekera (CAR). and Lubomir Visnovsky (NYI).
Goaltenders from the NHL for Slovakia are Peter Budaj of the Canadiens and Jaroslav Halak from the Blues.
Team Switzerland:
The Switzerland forwards from the NHL include Damien Brunner (NJD), Simon Moser (NSH) and Nino Niederreiter (MIN). The defense includes Raphael Diaz (VAN), Roman Josi (NSH), Mark Streit (PHI) and Yannick Weber (VAN). The goaltenders for Switzerland are Reto Berra (CGY) and Jonas Hiller (ANA) from the NHL.
Team Austria:
Michael Grabner and Thomas Vanek of the New York Islanders represent Team Austria along with Michael Raffl of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Team Latvia:
Latvia owns just one NHL player, and it's forward Zemgus Girgensons of the Buffalo Sabres.
Team Slovania:
Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar is the lone NHL representative on Team Slovania.
Team Norway:
Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello is the only NHL representative for Norway.
The 2014 Winter Olympic ice hockey tournament kicks off Wednesday as each of these teams try to leave Sochi with the gold.
© 2023 Sportsworldnews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
