Hockey Canada announced its Team Canada roster for the 2014 Winter Olympics on Tuesday for the Olympic Games that kick off this February in Sochi, Russia. Canada will look to win the gold medal as it did back in 2010 with a victory over the U.S.A. in the gold medal game. The team will return 11 players that competed in the 2010 triumph
TSN reports that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby leads a group of forwards that also includes the Boston Bruin's Patrice Bergeron, Los Angeles King's Jeff Carter, Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks, Chris Kunitz from the Penguins, Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks, the New York Ranger's Rick Nash, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks, Steven Stamkos from the Tampa Bay Lightning (if healthy) and John Tavares from the New York Islanders.
Duchene was one of the first players to tweet his excitement about his inclusion on the roster on his personal Twitter account:
So honoured to have the chance to represent Canada, @HockeyCanada and my hometown of Haliburton in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
— Matt Duchene (@Matt9Duchene) January 7, 2014
On defense, Team Canada will boast Jay Bouwmeester (St. Louis Blues), Drew Doughty (Kings), Dan Hamhuis (Vancouver Canucks), Duncan Keith (Blackhawks), Alex Pietrangelo (Blues), P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadiens), Mark-Edouard Vlasic (Sharks) and Shea Weber (Nashville Predators).
In between the pipes, the team will turn to Roberto Luongo (Canucks), Carey Price (Canadiens) and Mike Smith (Phoenix Coyotes).
Notable omissions from the team's group of forwards include Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers), James Neal (Penguins), Joe Thornton (Sharks), Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes), Martin St. Louis (Lightning), and Logan Couture (Sharks) on offense--though Couture was injured Monday night and is expected to miss four weeks which would put him on track to be eligible for the Olympics.
Dan Boyle (Sharks) and Brent Seabrook (Blackhawks) are notable snubs on the defensive side of things.
Canada's opening game in Sochi is Feb. 13 against Norway and it will play Group B games against Austria on Feb. 14 and Finland on Feb. 16.
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