Eight Philadelphia Flyers players participating in World Cup
By Ryan Quigley
Eight Philadelphia Flyers players will participate in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
We will have a lot of hockey to keep track of this summer.
The World Cup of Hockey rosters were released Friday evening and eight members of the Philadelphia Flyers will be representing their countries in the tournament.
The members participating are as follows:
Czech Republic
Europe
North America
Canada
After being snubbed from Canada’s Olympic team in 2014, Claude Giroux won’t be missing from Team Canada this time around. Giroux is a no-brainer for Team Canada and will likely play a big role for the team in the tournament.
Two players not snubbed from their country’s national team in Sochi are Jakub Voracek and Radko Gudas. Both players will once again represent the Czech Republic in the World Cup
A surprising selection to represent team Europe is Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. A native of France, Bellemare is not known for being much of a scorer, but brings a good defensive prowess to the table, making him a solid addition to Team Europe.
Representing Team North America will be two of Philadelphia’s top young guns in Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Couturier, who, without a doubt, have earned the opportunity to play in the World Cup. Gostisbehere is a Calder finalist and Couturier has cemented himself as one of the better two-way forwards in the NHL.
With eight players participating in the World Cup, it’s not unreasonable to be anxious about a player getting injured before the start of the 2016-17 season, but worrying about that is no fun. What is fun is hockey and we’ll be able to watch a good amount of it during the NHL offseason while cheering for some of our favorite players.