Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Seven countries represented by Team Europe’s first 16 players

yuknZTRVg8OD
With the rosters for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey announced on Wednesday, Bob McKenzie talks about the biggest surprises and most notable omissions.

Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup will be comprised of the best European-born players, not counting the ones from the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia or Sweden.

Think of it as a leftovers squad, even if the organizers would probably prefer you didn’t.

Today, Team Europe announced its first 16 players, and here they are:

G Frederik Andersen, Anaheim Ducks (Denmark)
G Jaroslav Halak, New York Islanders (Slovakia)

D Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins (Slovakia)
D Roman Josi, Nashville Predators (Switzerland)
D Dennis Seidenberg, Boston Bruins (Germany)
D Andrej Sekera, Edmonton Oilers (Slovakia)
D Mark Streit, Philadelphia Flyers (Switzerland)

F Mikkel Boedker, Colorado Avalanche (Denmark)
F Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers (Germany)
F Jannik Hansen, Vancouver Canucks (Denmark)
F Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks (Slovakia)
F Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings (Slovenia)
F Frans Nielsen, New York Islanders (Denmark)
F Tomas Tatar, Detroit Red Wings (Slovakia)
F Thomas Vanek, Minnesota Wild (Austria)
F Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers (Norway)

Seven countries -- Denmark, Slovakia, Switzlerland, Germany, Slovenia, Austria and Norway -- are represented on that list.

As you can see, it’s a veteran-laden group with no shortage of big-game experience. Hossa, Kopitar, and Chara have all figured prominently on Stanley Cup-winning teams in the past five years.

There’s also a dose of youth, with Draisaitl, 20, and 25-year-olds Tatar and Josi.

Team Europe, like the other seven teams in the tournament, will announce its full 23-man roster no later than June 1.

Candidates to be added to Team Europe include Tobias Rieder, Antoine Roussel, Michael Raffl, Mikhail Grabovski, and Christian Ehrhoff.