By Frank Pingue
Dec 31 (Reuters) - Hockey Canada leaned on proven winners in unveiling its men’s ice hockey team for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics, announcing on Wednesday an NHL-powered group expected to end the tournament on the top step of the podium.
Canada, a hockey powerhouse that would consider anything less than gold a failure, are an early favorite for the 12-country tournament which will feature National Hockey League players for the first time since 2014.
The 25-man roster includes 19
players who led Canada to a triumph at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in February.
"We believe this is the best team we could select," Team Canada General Manager Doug Armstrong told reporters.
"We have to do our job to get an opportunity to play teams from the other brackets and so we are not building this team to beat any one team. We want to build a roster that can compete against anybody."
YOUNGEST PLAYER
There were 19 roster spots up for grabs on Wednesday after Sidney Crosby - seeking his third Olympic gold medal - Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sam Reinhart, Brayden Point and Cale Makar were named to the preliminary roster in June.
Jordan Binnington, who helped lift Canada to victory at the 4 Nations Face-Off, was one of three goalies named to the team while forward Macklin Celebrini, who at 19 will be Canada's youngest player, was among the players added on Wednesday.
All eight of Canada's defensemen, a group that consists of Makar, Drew Doughty, Thomas Harley, Josh Morrissey, Colton Parayko, Travis Sanheim, Shea Theodore and Devon Toews, appeared at the 4 Nations tournament.
McDavid and MacKinnon, who are the top two scorers in the NHL this season, are among the 10 returning forwards along with Crosby, Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand, Anthony Cirelli, Brayden Point, Mark Stone, Mitch Marner and Brandon Hagel.
GOLDEN DROUGHT
This will be the first Olympic Games for all but Crosby and Doughty, who both won back-to-back Olympic gold medals at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.
Canada has won three gold medals since NHL players were first allowed to compete at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, winning in 2002, 2010 and 2014. Without NHL players, they settled for bronze in 2018 and missed the podium in 2022.
The men's ice hockey tournament at the Milano-Cortina Olympics runs February 11-22. Canada have been placed in Group A alongside Czech Republic, Switzerland, and France.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
