Just in case it was ever in doubt, we needed to wait until the official Team Canada roster announcement to be certain that Connor McDavid would make the Olympic team. Now that the full roster has been announced, it is official. McDavid will be taking his talents to Italy in February to lead Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
McDavid was the only Oiler announced to the initial roster, leaving Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman off in a controversial decision.
McDavid will be participating in his first Olympic tournament, as NHL players have not played in the Olympics during his career. His first best-on-best international experience came earlier this year at the 4 Nations Face-off, in which he scored the tournament winning goal over the United States.
McDavid’s pre-Olympic hot streak
McDavid has been playing his best hockey in years over the past month. We are getting to see some of the old magic he exhibited earlier in his career dangling through entire teams. And that’s not even mentioning his current 13 game point streak in which he has 33 points.
He is firing on all cylinders headed into the New Year, a hopeful sign for a strong Olympic tournament.
Team Canada looking to redeem themselves in Italy
The 2006 Canadian Olympic Men’s Hockey team will forever go down in infamy as one of the biggest disappointments on the world stage for the nation. With an exciting young generation of players making noise in the NHL, Hockey Canada left many of them off the team, including Sidney Crosby, in favour of veterans and older players.
The decision backfired as the Canadian team struggled to score at times, losing to Switzerland in the preliminary round and being eliminated by Russia in the quarterfinals.
This time around, the selection committee is hoping for a better result in Italy.
