CALGARY — The Canadian Olympic men’s hockey team that will try for a third straight gold medal next month will be announced Thursday.
Hockey Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee issued a joint release Wednesday announcing the team for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, will be unveiled in Calgary at noon ET.
Canada won gold medals in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014 with teams full of NHL stars.
General manager Sean Burke and head coach Willie Desjardins don’t have that luxury for next month’s Games, as the NHL decided not to send players to the Olympics for the first time since 1994.
Hockey Canada brass used three pre-Olympic European tournaments — the Karjala Cup, Channel One Cup and Spengler Cup, to evaluate potential players. The majority of players Canada picked were from European-based leagues, though some AHL and U.S. college players also got a look.
The 12-nation men’s hockey tournament at the 2018 Games goes from Feb. 14-25 at the Gangneung Hockey Centre and the Kwandong Hockey Centre.