Advertisement
Breaking News:

Lions reportedly make Amon-Ra St. Brown NFL's highest-paid WR

Familiar NHL faces in this year's Olympic hockey tournament

Kyle Cantlon
Writer
Russia defenseman Andrei Markov, left, and forward Pavel Datsyuk react after Russia lost 3-1 to Finland in a men’s quarterfinal ice hockey game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Russia defenseman Andrei Markov, left, and forward Pavel Datsyuk react after Russia lost 3-1 to Finland in a men’s quarterfinal ice hockey game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

There may be no National Hockey League players in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 1994, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of notable former (and future) NHL talent to lay your eyes on in Pyeongchang.

Here they are, for your nostalgic reading pleasure:

Canada
Wojtek Wolski will lead Canada’s two-time defending gold medal men’s hockey team into Pyeongchang. (AP Photo/Roman Koksarov)
Wojtek Wolski will lead Canada’s two-time defending gold medal men’s hockey team into Pyeongchang. (AP Photo/Roman Koksarov)

Ben Scrivens: Split between Edmonton, Los Angeles, Toronto and Montreal, the former Cornell netminder sported a .905 save percentage in 144 NHL games before heading to the KHL for the start of the 2016-17 season.

Mason Raymond: The former Vancouver Canucks second-round draft pick suited up for 9 NHL seasons, notching 251 points in 546 career games with the Canucks, Leafs, Flames and Ducks.

Derek Roy: The former Kitchener Rangers standout spent the first eight seasons of his NHL career in Buffalo before bouncing around with Dallas, Vancouver, St. Louis, Nashville and Edmonton. He tallied 524 points in 738 NHL games.

Maxim Lapierre: In 614 NHL games split between Montreal, Anaheim, Vancouver, St. Louis and Pittsburgh, the Saint-Leonard, Quebec native scored 139 points and registered 586 penalty minutes before maing the move to Sweden’s top league in 2015.

Chris Kelly: The only Canadian player with a Stanley Cup ring, Kelly was named captain of the squad and will be leaned on heavily as one of its most experienced forwards. The 37-year-old tallied 123 in 833 NHL games with the Bruins and Senators.

René Bourque: Lac La Biche, Alberta’s very own registered 316 points, including 163 goals in 725 NHL games. During his career, the 36-year-old spent time with the Blackhawks, Flames, Canadiens, Blue Jackets, Ducks and Avalanche.

Wojtek Wolski: One year after breaking his neck during a KHL game and his hockey career seeming all but finished, Wolski was named an Olympian. The 2004 first-rounder suited up for the Avalanche, Rangers, Coyotes, Panthers and Capitals, netting 267 points in 451 NHL games.

Russia

It’s the fifth Olympics for former NHL All Stars Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
It’s the fifth Olympics for former NHL All Stars Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Pavel Datsyuk: A Veteran of 14 NHL seasons, all with Detroit, Datsyuk collected 918 points in 953 career games before returning to the KHL for the 2016-17 campaign. The 39-year-old is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and three-time Selke trophy winner.

Ilya Kovalchuk: Clipping at exactly a point-per-game pace (816 in 816 games) over his 11 NHL season with the Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils, Kovalchuk joined St. Petersburg SKA of the KHL to start the 2013-14 season. The 34-year-old was a two-time All Star and captured the Rocket Richard Trophy in 2004 when he posted 41 goals.

Slava Voynov: Though the 28-year-old won two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings in two of his three NHL seasons, Voynov is most known for a domestic violence incident which landed the blueliner a 90-day jail sentence and a indefinite ban from the NHL.

Vadim Shipachyov: His NHL career was very short lived, but Shipachyov, who signed with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights out of the KHL last summer, is known for getting released by his first and only NHL team after he refused to report to the AHL.

Mikhail Grigorenko: The 2012 Buffalo Sabres first-round pick (No. 12 overall) posted 64 points over parts of five NHL seasons with the Sabres and Avalanche.

USA
Brian Gionta is one of three former NHLers suiting up for the United States in Pyeongchang. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
Brian Gionta is one of three former NHLers suiting up for the United States in Pyeongchang. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)

Brian Gionta: The former Sabres, Canadiens and Devils forward will wear the ‘C’ for Team USA in South Korea. Gionta tallied 588 points, including 289 goals, in 1006 NHL games over 15 NHL seasons. The 39-year-old won a Stanley Cup in 2003 with New Jersey.

James Wisniewski: The 33-year-old blueliner spent parts of 10 NHL seasons with the Blackhawks, Ducks, Islanders, Canadiens and Blue Jackets. He posted 274 points in 552 NHL games before making his way to Russia in 2016.

Mark Arcobello: The Yale alumnus played 139 NHL games with the Oilers, Predators, Coyotes, Penguins and Maple Leafs, registering 24 goals and 53 points.

Sweden
Aside from Kovalchuk and Datsyuk, Sure-to-be 2018 No. 1 pick Rasmus Dahlin has the most NHL intrigue — and he’s yet to play a game.
Aside from Kovalchuk and Datsyuk, Sure-to-be 2018 No. 1 pick Rasmus Dahlin has the most NHL intrigue — and he’s yet to play a game.

Jhonas Enroth and Viktor Fasth: Sweden’s top two netminders entering the tournament both have a lot of NHL experience, with the former registering a .909 save percentage in 153 career games. Fasth, meanwhile, posted a .904 SP% in 63 games with Anaheim and Edmonton.

Viktor Stalberg: A big-bodied power forward, Stalberg tallied 168 points in 488 games with the Maple Leafs, Blackhawks, Hurricanes, Rangers, Senators and Preds. The 32-year-old Gothenburg product is now toiling with Zug EV.

Linus Omark: Though he suited up for 79 NHL games with the Oilers and Sabres, Omark is best known for his crazy shootout prowess, including this spin-o-rama to fake-clapper in 2010.

Rasmus Dahlin: The surefire 2018 No. 1 overall pick isn’t a household NHL name yet, but he will be very, very soon.

FILE – In this Dec. 17, 2015, file photo, Calgary Flames goalie Karri Ramo (31) deflects a shot during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas. Finland, which has medaled in four of the past five Olympics and has 6-foot-6 Kontinental Hockey League star Mikko Koskinen and longtime NHL goalie Karri Ramo between the pipes. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
The Rest

Karri Ramo (Finland): In 159 games with Tampa Bay and Calgary, Ramo recorded a .906 save percentage along with a 60-63 record.

Martin Erat (Czech Republic): Maybe best known for getting flipped from Washington to Nashville for Filip Forsberg in one of the most one-sided trades ever, Erat also managed to tally a solid 545 career NHL points with the Preds, Capitals and Coyotes.

More Olympic coverage on Yahoo Canada Sports: