Team Canada has released its roster for the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Czechia. Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini headline the Canadian roster. The tournament is set to take place in one week where hometown Czechia plays Finland on opening day. Team Canada opens its tournament against Great Britain on May 11th. Who do you think will have the biggest impact on Team Canada?
Team Canada’s Young Stars
As mentioned, Connor Bedard and Hobey Baker Award winner Macklin Celebrini are the main young stars suiting up for Team Canada. They also have several other young stars looking to get good ice time in this tournament. Adam Fantilli, Dylan Guenther, and Owen Power want to show the world what they are capable of. All three of them had respectable NHL seasons, especially Dylan Guenther. The Edmonton native put up an impressive 35 points in 45 games with the Arizona Coyotes. He and Connor Bedard showed some great chemistry in the 2023 World Junior Tournament. Surely, they will look to build on this and compete at the Men’s national level.
Even though the team is loaded with young stars, the news that Sidney Crosby will not play in the upcoming tournament is disappointing. The idea of a Connor Bedard and Sidney Crosby duo was tantalizing. Unfortunately, it will not happen yet. So too, this team seems to lack veteran presence just by looking at the roster. Will this affect the team’s performance? Or will the young stars have no problems?
A Chance At History
Team Canada will look to be back-to-back champions after winning the tournament in 2023. The roster is missing most of the heroes from last year. Names like Mackenzie Weegar, Tyler Toffoli, and Lawson Crouse are not on the roster. One massive positive for the Canadians is that the 2021 tournament MVP will be back on the team. Andrew Mangiapane will be playing again for the first time since the 2021 World Championship. The Calgary Flames forward put up an amazing seven goals in seven games. He finished the tournament with 11 points. Will he be able to perform at that level again?
The 2024 World Championship begins on Friday, May 10th. Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini will begin their journey to the gold medal game.
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