(ATR) The United States men’s ice hockey team for PyeongChang 2018 will be minus any current NHL players but will be captained by an Olympic and NHL veteran.
Brian Gionta represented Team USA at the 2006 Winter Games and won a Stanley Cup title with the New Jersey Devils in 2003. He played in more than 1,000 NHL games but as he nears his 39th birthday, Gionta is currently not playing professionally.
The first 23 players of the team were unveiled on Monday by USA Hockey. While Gionta is the only Olympian, 15 of the other 22 players do have NHL experience. There are also 15 who currently play professionally in Europe while three others compete in one of the minor leagues in North America.
There will also be a nod to the "Miracle on Ice" team of amateurs that famously won gold at Lake Placid in 1980, with four college players making the team for 2018.
One of the collegians, forward Jordan Greenway of Boston University, will be the first black U.S. hockey Olympian.
Two more goaltenders will be added by mid-January to complete the 25-man roster.
The United States and Canada men’s teams could have a hard time coming close to their achievements of the last two Winter Games following the National Hockey League’s decision to not allow its players to participate at the Olympics for the first time since 1994.
The U.S. lost to Canada in the final in Vancouver in 2010 and finished fourth at Sochi four years later. Canada followed up the Vancouver gold with another one in 2014. Both countries have fielded teams laden with NHL players since Nagano 1998.
"Obviously from a selection process it's been a battle for us on all the players we have available to us," said U.S. coach Tony Granato. "I think we've put together an outstanding group of players that will represent us well come February and give us a great chance to do really well and compete for a medal."
Hockey Canada is expected to reveal its men's team as soon as next week.
The Canadian women's team was unveiled last month. Canada and the U.S. women are again expected to battle it out for gold in PyeongChang.
Ten of the 23 members of the U.S. women's team named on Monday were part of the team that lost the final to Canada in Sochi. Canada has beaten the U.S. in the last two women's Olympic finals.
Written by Gerard Farek
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