While the round of 16 of Stanley Cup is starting this week, the coaches of the national hockey teams that participate in the 2015 World Championships in Czech Republic in May are building their teams for the tournament. Sweden just got some reinforcements in their defense (Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes and Oscar Klefbom, Edmonton) and offense (Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask, Carolina Hurricanes) together with a goalie (Jhonas Enroth, Dallas Stars). Four NHL-players will join Finland in the Euro Hockey Tour-games against Russia: Rasmus Ristolainen, Jussi Jokinen, Alexander Barkov and Jyrki Jokipakka.
Canada’s dream team
Canada has a lot of players to choose from and they are building a strong team that can easily match the Russians this year. The following players are confirmed to play in the 2015 IIHF World Championships:
Mike Smith (Arizona)
Matt Duchene (Colorado)
Tyler Seguin (Dallas)
Jason Spezza (do)
Jordan Eberle (Edmonton)
Taylor Hall (do)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (do)
Aaron Ekblad (Florida)
Claude Giroux (Philadelphia)
These players are rumored to be joining the team soon:
Connor McDavid (Erie Otters)
Eric Staal (Carolina)
Jamie Benn (Dallas)
Jason Demers (Dallas)
Jeff Carter (Los Angeles)
Drew Doughty (Los Angeles)
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San José)
If they can build a team that can play big-rink-hockey from these players, Canada are one of the hottest candidates for the gold medal. Last time they won the gold was in Russia 2007. Last year they got eliminated by Finland in the quarter-final.
