No NHL, no problem for Canada
Olympic team to include players from leagues around the world
CALGARY — As the rest of the world prepares for an Olympic Games without National Hockey League players, Hockey Canada is bracing itself for a busy year ahead.
The plan, announced Tuesday in the Hall of Champions at Winsport’s Markin McPhail Centre, gives them a schedule of six different opportunities for evaluation and has them focused on a global approach to scouting Canada’s 2018 Olympic team.
Their current depth chart is substantial, especially at this time of the year, with some players still searching for contracts at all levels, but Hockey Canada hopes to ice a competitive roster without NHLers.
“Part of the reason why we wanted to talk about the schedule is to show people, ‘We’ve got a plan. We’ve got a staff. We’ve got a really competitive schedule.’ Now, we need players,” said Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations and national men’s teams. “It’s going to be awesome. Whoever puts that jersey on, I think people are going to watch. People are going to be proud. We know the NHL won’t be there, we get that … but it’s Canada. “It’s the Olympics.” Hockey Canada also announced its star-studded staff that includes general manager Sean Burke and head coach Willie Desjardins, the former head coach of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks and former Canadian world junior coach.
“It’s been great to watch NHL players (at the Olympic level) ... but part of the Olympic experience are the stories that go into it and what players do to get there,” Desjardins said. “It’s a little bit like the world juniors. It’s great to see these guys succeed, and they’re not used to the (fame) and how they rise to the occasion. I think there’s going to be a lot of great stories out of it.
“The one thing you know … the compete at the Olympics is going to be as high as it’s ever been.”
Joining Desjardins on the coaching staff are longtime national coach Dave King and assistant coaches Scott Walker and Craig Woodcroft.
Hockey Hall of Famer-to-be Martin Brodeur has also been recruited to assist with the management process.
“I’ve played in four Olympics,” said the three-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender, four-time Vezina Trophy winner and representative of the Canadian flag on eight different occasions. “I know what it’s all about, and I know what it takes to be successful.
“I’m glad to be part of it and glad to be as part of it as much as I can.”
With a base built from Canada’s Deutschland Cup and Spengler Cup teams, Hockey Canada continues player evaluations in Russia at the Sochi Hockey Open from Aug. 6-9 in Sochi, then at the Tournament of Nikolai Puchkov in St. Petersburg from Aug. 14-17.
Hockey Canada will aim to have 75 per cent of its final Olympic roster decided by November, competing in a friendly against the Swiss team in Zurich, Switzerland, followed by the Karjala Cup in Helsinki from Nov. 9-12. The Channel One Cup goes in Moscow from Dec. 12-17. The last event before the Olympics is the Spengler Cup from Dec. 25-31 in Davos, Switzerland.
The logistics are new for Hockey Canada heading into an Olympic year without NHLers for the first time since 1998, but it’s not like it’s completely uncharted territory.
“When you’re putting together an Olympic team with NHL players, it’s easier to scout,” Salmond said. “Our scouting schedule this year is Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Germany and North America.
“It’s huge. It’s a huge task to get out and see those players.”
There is also some continuity that comes along with having multiple chances to compete as a team, like Hockey Canada has laid out for its group.
Salmond pointed out that, with NHLers, they only have a handful of opportunities to gather as a team before the Olympic Games begin, whereas this group will have played together multiple times.
“With the NHL format, it’s like an all-star team,” Salmond said. “When that team comes together, it’s really only four days before the Olympic Games start. This is different.”
Hockey Canada brass will spend time evaluating leagues such as the KHL, talent in Switzerland and Sweden and, of course, the American Hockey League, and perhaps former NHL players without contracts. They intend on drafting an initial list of 45 players.
In other words: no NHL, no problem.
“It’s hard to compare it (to any other player selection process) … we’ve really got to be smart,” Salmond said.
“There are good players who aren’t in the NHL ... There are guys overseas who were great NHL players. We’re going to keep it wide open as long as possible to make sure we’re evaluating the right players.”
Because, really, who wouldn’t want to play for Canada?
“This is a really unique opportunity for a lot of people, and for some, it’s once in a lifetime,” Salmond said.