NHL Stars Return to Olympic Ice, and the Canucks Are Well-Represented
After a 12-year absence, the NHL is officially back on the Olympic stage, and the buzz around Milan and Cortina is electric. For fans of international hockey, this is the moment they've been waiting for: best-on-best competition, with the world’s top players suiting up for national pride. And when it comes to NHL representation, the Vancouver Canucks are making their presence felt.
Seven players from the Canucks organization - including both NHL and AHL talent - are heading to Italy to represent five different nations. That list includes some of Vancouver’s most recognizable names, like Sweden’s Elias Pettersson, Czechia’s Filip Hronek and David Kampf, and Finland’s Kevin Lankinen. Latvia will be represented by both Teddy Blueger and Anri Ravinskis, while Lukas Reichel is suiting up for Germany.
This marks the sixth time NHL players have participated in the men’s Olympic hockey tournament, with the tradition beginning back in 1998 in Nagano. Since then, the tournament has grown into a showcase of elite-level hockey, and this year’s edition promises to be no different - especially with the NHL’s top stars back in the mix.
For the Canucks, the number of players heading to the Olympics this year is a slight bump from the last time NHLers took part in the Games. Back in 2014, six Vancouver players were part of the Sochi tournament - a time when the franchise was in the middle of a turbulent shift.
That season, the Canucks were unraveling. The John Tortorella era wasn’t panning out, the team was aging, and the playoff window was closing fast. But despite the struggles, Vancouver still had enough high-end talent to contribute to Olympic rosters across the board.
Team Canada called up two Canucks: Roberto Luongo and Dan Hamhuis. For Luongo, it was his third Olympic appearance, and while Carey Price was Canada’s starter, Luongo got the nod in a dominant 6-0 shutout win over Austria. Hamhuis played five games en route to helping Canada secure the gold medal.
Sweden was banking on a trio of Canucks to power their Olympic campaign: Henrik and Daniel Sedin, plus defenseman Alex Edler. But Henrik was forced to withdraw due to a rib injury, leaving Daniel and Edler to carry the flag.
Daniel didn’t disappoint, leading all Swedish forwards in scoring with five points in six games. Edler added two goals in four appearances.
Sweden would ultimately fall to Canada in the gold medal game, but the Canucks’ fingerprints were all over that run.
Elsewhere, Ryan Kesler made his second Olympic appearance for Team USA, notching four points as the Americans finished just off the podium in fourth place. Defenseman Yannick Weber suited up for Switzerland, marking his second of three Olympic appearances.
For many of those players, Sochi marked the beginning of the end of their time in Vancouver. Luongo, fresh off his gold medal, was traded back to Florida just weeks later.
Kesler was dealt to Anaheim in the offseason, following a front-office overhaul that ushered in the Jim Benning era. The Sedins would go on to retire after the 2017-18 season, and Edler remained a fixture on the blue line until 2021, when he left in free agency to join the LA Kings.
Now, as the puck drops in Milan and Cortina, the current group of Canucks Olympians is writing a new chapter - one that could shape not just their international legacies, but their futures in Vancouver as well. How long this group stays intact is anyone’s guess, but for now, they’re chasing medals on the biggest stage hockey has to offer.
And if history is any indication, what happens in Italy might just set the tone for what’s next in Vancouver.