Photo courtesy of Resolute, Wikipedia
USA Hockey has announced the first 16 players of their roster that will compete in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
This year’s World Cup of Hockey will be held in Toronto, and will be the first installment of the tournament since 2004 and the third in history, the first one being in 1996.
Twelve of the 16 players on the roster have played in at least one Olympics.
New Jersey Devils head coach John Hynes will assist Tortorella in coaching duties as well.
The roster includes three goalies, two of them whom have appeared in each of the last two Stanley Cup Finals. Lightning goalie Ben Bishop was named to the roster, and rightfully so, as he leads the NHL in goals against with 2.06; he also holds a .925 save percentage.
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick was the starting goalie for Team USA in the 2014 Sochi Olympics and was selected to the roster. Devils goalie Cory Schneider was also named to the roster, having a career year in his third season as a Devil, holding a 2.14 GAA and a .924 save percentage. Schneider is the lone Devil on the roster.
Two Rangers were named to the roster: defenseman Ryan McDonagh and center Derek Stepan.
McDonagh has had an injury-plagued season, but he has still scored eight goals and tallied 28 assists in his ice time. Stepan has 14 goals and 17 assists this season.
Former Devil and current Wild left wing Zach Parise is also on the roster, and he has played in the last two Olympics, being an alternate captain in 2010 and then the captain for 2014. Parise’s most notable moment in international play is when he scored a game-tying goal against Team Canada with 24 seconds left in the gold-medal game, despite Canada winning the game in overtime courtesy of Sidney Crosby.
Parise will also team up with current Wild teammate Ryan Suter, a defenseman.
Team USA also has one of the best players in the NHL in right wing Patrick Kane. Kane, the captain of the Blackhawks, has 36 goals and 49 assists on the season. Earlier in the year, he earned a point in 26 games, the longest by an player born in the United States and the longest in Blackhawks history.
The roster is also rather young, as Sharks center Joe Pavelski is the oldest player on the squad; he will turn 32 years old on July 11. The average age of Team USA is 28.4
Team USA has until June 1 to fill in the final seven spots of the roster; all three goaltender spots have already been filled up.
The World Cup of Hockey will start on Sept. 17, and the Americans will kick off the tournament against Team Europe. They will have a scrimmage against Team Canada on Sept. 9; Canada’s star lineup includes Crosby, goalies Corey Crawford, Braden Holtby and Carey Price, and Islanders center John Tavares.
rmorik@ramapo.edu
