Hockey World Cup Final Rosters: Sweden, Russia, Finland, Czech Republic
By Ryan Ritchie
Hockey World Cup Final Rosters: Team Sweden, Team Russia, Team Finland, and Team Czech Republic all Revealed on Friday
Hockey World Cup (World Cup of Hockey) is set to return in 2016 after a long absence.
Taking place in Toronto, Ontario, the WCOH will be held at the Air Canada Centre (home of the Toronto Maple Leafs) and will start on September 17th.
For several months now, we have been debating who would make the final rosters for each team. We fared well in our predictions for the original 16-man roster, but let’s be honest that was the easy part.
Time to move on to those final roster spots. We released our final prediction a couple of weeks ago (linked here). Let’s reveal those final rosters for the first four teams:
Hockey World Cup (World Cup of Hockey) Final Rosters
Team Sweden
Forwards:
Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals; Loui Eriksson, Boston Bruins; Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators; Patric Hornqvist, Pittsburgh Penguins; Carl Hagelin, Pittsburgh Penguins; Marcus Kruger, Chicago Blackhawks; Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche; Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks; Carl Soderberg, Colorado Avalanche; Alex Steen, St. Louis Blues; Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
Defensemen:
Mattias Ekholm, Nashville Predators; Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes; Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning; Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks; Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators; Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings; Anton Stralman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Goalies:
Robin Lehner, Buffalo Sabres; Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers; Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks
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One of the bigger surprises for Team Sweden; the exclusion of Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg, opting for Nashville’s Mattias Ekholm instead.
Up front, Sweden opts not to go with Ottawa’s Mika Zibanejad or Detroit’s Gustav Nyquist.
It seems the Swedes are opting for a pair of postseason performers from Pittsburgh (Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist).
Difficult to argue with any of the selections given the wealth of talent the Swedes have to choose from.
Team Russia
Forwards:
Artem Anisimov, Chicago Blackhawks; Evgeni Dadonov, SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL); Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings; Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning; Nikolai Kulemin, New York Islanders;Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals; Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins; Vladislav Namestnikov, Tampa Bay Lightning; Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals; Artemi Panarin, Chicago Blackhawks; Vadim Shipachyov, SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL); Ivan Telegin, CSKA Moscow (KHL); Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
Defensemen:
Alexei Emelin, Montreal Canadiens; Dmitry Kulikov, Florida Panthers; Alexey Marchenko, Detroit Red Wings; Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens; Dmitry Orlov, Washington Capitals; Slava Voynov, SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL); Nikita Zaitsev, Toronto Maple Leafs
Goalies:
Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets; Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche; Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
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Not too many surprises here.
Slava Voynov was an early candidate to participate but that seemed to disappear once he was deported.
It’s still unclear if he can even get into the country to participate despite being named.
A couple of interesting names in the forward group.
Vadim Shipachyov dominated the World Championship, and fellow KHLer Ivan Telegin was impressive, both being named to Team Russia.
Team Czech Republic
Forwards:
Radek Faksa, Dallas Stars; Martin Hanzal, Arizona Coyotes; Ales Hemsky, Dallas Stars; Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks; Dmitrij Jaskin, St. Louis Blues; David Krejci, Boston Bruins; Milan Michalek, Toronto Maple Leafs; Ondrej Palat, Tampa Bay Lightning; David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins; Tomas Plekanec, Montreal Canadiens; Vladimir Sobotka, Avangard Omsk (KHL); Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers
Defensemen:
Radko Gudas, Philadelphia Flyers; Michal Jordan, Carolina Hurricanes; Michal Kempny, Chicago Blackhawks; Zbynek Michalek, Arizona Coyotes; Jakub Nakladal, Calgary Flames; Roman Polak, San Jose Sharks; Andrej Sustr, Tampa Bay Lightning
Goalies:
Petr Mrazek, Detroit Red Wings; Michal Neuvirth, Philadelphia Flyers; Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg Jets
Congratulations to Radek Faksa. He made a name for himself in 2015-16, and stood out during the postseason – well deserved roster spot.
For Blackhawks fan, they get an early look at free agent signing Michal Kempny before he makes his NHL debut.
Team Finland
Forwards:
Sebastian Aho, Karpat (FIN); Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers; Joonas Donskoi, San Jose Sharks; Valtteri Filppula, Tampa Bay Lightning; Mikael Granlund, Minnesota Wild; Erik Haula, Minnesota Wild; Jussi Jokinen, Florida Panthers; Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild; Leo Komarov, Toronto Maple Leafs; Lauri Korpikoski, Edmonton Oilers; Patrik Laine, Tappara (FIN); Jori Lehtera, St. Louis Blues; Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago Blackhawks
Defensemen:
Jyrki Jokipakka, Calgary Flames; Sami Lepisto, Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL); Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars; Olli Maatta, Pittsburgh Penguins; Ville Pokka, Chicago Blackhawks; Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres; Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks
Goalies:
Mikko Koskinen, SKA St. Petersburg (KHL); Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins; Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
Surprisingly, we managed to hit on KHLer Sami Lepisto. The Finnish blueline could be very underrated with quality prospects such as Esa Lindell and Ville Pokka on board.
In the forward group, it should come as little surprise to see Patrik Laine’s after the way he performed on the International stage this year. The naming of Sebastian Aho might be an indication that he’s ready to step into the Hurricanes lineup next Fall.
Next: NHL Mock Draft 5.5: 7 Rounds of Prospect Analysis
Stay tuned later on this evening as the last four Hockey World Cup (World Cup of Hockey) rosters are revealed. We’ll post those final four teams with reactions. The toughest decisions still await with Team Canada, Team USA, and Team North America who all have a rich pool of players to choose from.