Arizona Coyotes: Tobias Rieder And Zbynek Michalek Named To World Cup Of Hockey Rosters
Arizona Coyotes forward Tobias Rieder and defenseman Zbynek Michalek were named to their respective World Cup of Hockey rosters on Friday.
When the initial Czech Republic World Cup of Hockey roster was announced, Arizona Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek was curiously absent.
As we wrote at the time, “For a team with Radkos Gudas and Roman Polak on the initial roster on defense, you’d think Michalek will eventually make it onto the list if he wants to compete in the event.
“Michalek is in the twilight of his career, but the Czech Republic’s defensive pickings are slim.”
Well, Friday he was finally named to the roster as expected.
Living legend Jaromir Jagr will not be joining the Czech team for the tournament, however.
Tobias Rieder Named To Team Europe Roster
There is no German team competing in the World Cup which meant Arizona Coyotes speedster Tobias Rieder needed to make a roster composed of a variety of players from a variety of nationalities.
After picking up a knee injury thanks to Corey Perry at the 2016 IIHF World Hockey Championships, it seemed possible that Tobi might be left off the final Team Europe roster.
That won’t be the case.
Team Europe added the injured German forward to their squad along with a who’s who of players who cannot represent their countries in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Here’s Team Europe’s roster:
Forwards:
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Philadelphia Flyers (France); Mikkel Boedker, Colorado Avalanche (Denmark); Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers (Germany); Marian Gaborik, Los Angeles Kings (Slovakia); Jannik Hansen, Vancouver Canucks (Denmark); Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks (Slovakia); Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings (Slovenia); Nino Niederreiter, Minnesota Wild (Switzerland); Frans Nielsen, New York Islanders (Denmark); Tobias Rieder, Arizona Coyotes (Germany); Tomas Tatar, Detroit Red Wings (Slovakia); Thomas Vanek, Minnesota Wild (Austria); Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers (Norway)
Defensemen:
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins (Slovakia); Christian Ehrhoff, Chicago Blackhawks (Germany); Roman Josi, Nashville Predators (Switzerland); Dennis Seidenberg, Boston Bruins (Germany); Andrej Sekera, Edmonton Oilers (Slovakia); Luca Sbisa, Vancouver Canucks (Switzerland); Mark Streit, Philadelphia Flyers (Switzerland)
Goalies:
Frederik Andersen, Anaheim Ducks (Denmark); Thomas Greiss, New York Islanders (Germany); Jaroslav Halak, New York Islanders (Slovakia)
With Kopitar, Chara, Josi, Zuccarello, and more, they aren’t short on talent in comparison to some of the other teams in the tournament. It will be mighty interesting to see how Team Europe and Team North America pan out.
Auston Matthews Named To The Young Guns Team
Future first overall pick Auston Matthews was named to Team North America on Friday as well, as was expected.
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Not added? A young man by the name of Max Domi.
Outside of their home country, I feel like most of the hockey populace who catches the World Cup will be all-in on seeing what the “young guns” can do.