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How many players on the us olympic basketball team


USA Basketball announces Olympic team roster

Kevin Durant heads up the group of 12 players comprising the 2021 U.S. Men’s National Team.

Led by now three-time Olympian Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets), USA Basketball unveiled its official 12-member U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team.

USA Olympic Team Roster
Player NBA team
Bam Adebayo Miami Heat
Bradley Beal* Washington Wizards
Devin Booker Phoenix Suns
Kevin Durant Brooklyn Nets
Jerami Grant Detroit Pistons
Draymond Green Golden State Warriors
Jrue Holiday Milwaukee Bucks
Keldon Johnson** San Antonio Spurs
Zach LaVine Chicago Bulls
Damian Lillard Portland Trail Blazers
Kevin Love* Cleveland Cavaliers
JaVale McGee** Denver Nuggets
Khris Middleton Milwaukee Bucks
Jayson Tatum Boston Celtics

* = Bradley Beal and Kevin Love will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics
** = Keldon Johnson and JaVale McGee will replace Beal and Love

The USA coaching staff is led by head coach Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs) with assistant coaches Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors), Lloyd Pierce and Jay Wright (Villanova University) and Jerry Colangelo serving as the USA Men’s National Team managing director.

“I’m happy for the selected players and looking forward to having the opportunity to work with this wonderful group when practice gets underway on July 6 in Las Vegas,” Popovich said. “I’m excited to represent the United States in our quest to earn a gold medal in Tokyo.”

“USA Basketball selects players to represent our country in international competition with the skills, character, experience, and desire to win,” said retired Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the USA Basketball Board of Directors.. “We build teams that are versatile and resilient in the short, intense competitions we face. We’re fortunate that this group of elite athletes has volunteered to represent us in Tokyo this summer.”

With his selection to the U.S. Olympic Team, Durant becomes just the fourth United States male basketball player selected to three or more Olympic teams. Carmelo Anthony (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) has represented and medaled for a USA men’s record four Olympics, while LeBron James (2004, 2008, 2012) and David Robinson (1988, 1992, 1996) each have three Olympic medals in as many appearances.

The U.S. men have collected a medal in all 18 Olympics in which they have competed, including 15 gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals. The American men own an impressive 138-5 (.965 winning percentage) all-time record in Olympic action. Since NBA players began representing the United States in 1992, the USA is 53-3 in seven Olympics, capturing six gold medals and one bronze medal. The USA currently enjoys a 25-game Olympic win streak that dates back to the bronze medal game of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The rescheduled Summer Olympic Games are being held July 23-Aug. 8 in Tokyo, Japan. Twelve nations will compete in the Olympic men’s basketball competition that will be held at the Saitama Super Arena. In addition to host Japan, nations qualified for the Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball competition include Argentina, Australia, France, Iran, Nigeria, Spain and the United States.

Men’s basketball preliminary play at the Olympics, which will see the 12 teams divided into three groups of four teams each, will be held July 25-Aug. 2. The quarterfinals, featuring teams placed first and second in each preliminary group and the two best third-placed teams, is scheduled for Aug. 3. Semifinal action will be played on Aug. 5. The gold and bronze medal games are scheduled for Aug. 7.

The draw for the Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball competition was held Feb. 2, and the U.S. was drawn into Group A alongside 2019 FIBA World Cup bronze medalist France, 2017 Asia Cup runner-up Iran, and the to-be-determined winner of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Canada. The American men will open Olympic preliminary round play on July 25, against France (8 a.m. EDT), then will play Iran on July 28 (12:40 a.m. EDT) and will close out preliminary play on July 31 (8:00 a.m. EDT) versus the winner of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Canada.

A draw will take place following the conclusion of the group phase to determine the pairings of the quarterfinals. The winners of the groups and the second-placed team with the best result from the Group Phase are placed in one pot (D), while the two remaining second-placed teams and two best third-placed teams in another pot (E). Teams from the same group in the Group Phase cannot be drawn against each other in the quarterfinals. This stage of the competition is played in a knockout format, and the draw will produce an Olympic bracket for the road to the gold medal.

To be crowned Olympic champion in 2021, a team has to play six games – three in the group phase and three in the Final Phase (quarterfinals, semifinals, gold medal game), instead of eight games as in past Olympics.

Schedule

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Olympic Games

Final Standings

Team W-L
1. USA 5-1
2. France 5-1
3. Australia 5-1
4. Slovenia 1-2
5. Italy 0-1
6. Spain 2-2
Team W-L
7. Argentina 1-3
8. Germany 0-1
9. Czech Republic 0-0
10. Nigeria 0-3
11. Japan 0-3
12. Iran 0-3

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Preliminary Round Final Standings

Group A W-L
1.  Czech Republic 0-0
2.   France 3-0
3.  Iran 0-3
4.   USA 2-1
Group B W-L
1.  Australia 3-0
2.   Germany* 0-0
3.  Italy* 0-0
4.   Nigeria 0-3
Group C W-L
1.  Argentina 1-2
2.   Japan 0-3
3.  Slovenia 0-0
4.   Spain 2-1

2024 | Basketball: Olympic Qualification Rules

The basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics promises to be full of surprises. The US women's team has been unbeaten in gold medals since the Atlanta Games, and the men's team since Beijing 2008, but the level of other teams has grown significantly in recent times. Will we have new Olympic champions?

We will know the answer to this question only in the summer of 2024, but it will be possible to form an opinion about the capabilities of the teams during the international competitions and Olympic qualification tournaments that will be held in the next two years. The first of these will be FIBA ​​Women's World Basketball Championship starting on September 22.

Answering basic questions about basketball qualification for the Paris Olympics.

How many basketball players will go to Paris 2024?

A total of 288 players (24 teams) will compete in the basketball tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The number of players is the same for men and women - 144 athletes of each gender . Each tournament will feature 12 commands .

France reserves one quota for each gender as the host country . However, the final decision on these quotas will be made by the central bureau of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) on June 30, 2023. If the Central Bureau decides not to directly award the quota to the host country, then the number of teams that can qualify in the normal way will be increased.

What does qualifying for Paris 2024 consist of?

The qualification process will differ significantly for men and women. Let's talk about the most important things.

Men

FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup 2023: Seven Quotas

The first competition to award direct tickets to Paris 2024 will be the 2023 FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup. The tournament will be held from August 25 to September 10 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

In total, seven quotas will be played within the framework of the championship. They will be awarded to the best teams from the respective continents according to the following distribution:

  • Two for America
  • Two for Europe
  • One for Africa
  • One for Asia
  • One for Oceania
Olympic qualification tournaments FIBA: Four scotes

The remaining Four scores will be distributed through Olympic Touric. Each of these tournaments will consist of two rounds: Pre-Qualifiers and Qualifiers .

Men's Olympic pre-qualification tournaments

Total 40 teams will compete in pre-qualification tournaments. They will be selected based on the qualification results for the last World Championship. 28 of them are teams that reached the second round of qualification, but failed to qualify for the championship itself. The remaining 12 are the highest-placed teams among those who failed to qualify for the second round of qualification.

Five teams from the pre-qualifiers will advance to the qualifiers.

In the pre-qualifiers, teams will be divided on a continental basis:

  • Eight teams from Africa (one will advance to the qualifying tournament)
  • Eight teams from America (one will advance to the qualifying tournament)
  • Eight teams from Asia (including Oceania) ) (one to qualify)
  • 16 teams from Europe (one to qualify)

Men's Olympic Qualifiers

Total 24 teams representing all continents are eligible to participate in the Olympic qualification tournaments.

There will be four tournaments in total, each of which will feature six teams. The winner of each of them will receive a ticket to the Olympic Games.

19 teams are invited to participate, which at the 2023 World Cup ranked the highest among those who did not directly qualify for the Games. Participating teams will be divided as follows:

  • One team from Africa
  • One team from America
  • one team from Asia
  • 16 The remaining commands

The remaining 5 commands are selected according to the results of pre-qualification tournaments:

  • One command from Africa
  • one American team
  • One Asian team
  • Two European teams

Women

2022 FIBA ​​World Championship: one quota

The first competition to qualify for a direct ticket to Paris 2024 will be the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup, which will take place from 22 September to 1 October in Australia. The winner of the championship will receive one quota .

FIBA ​​Olympic Qualifiers: Eleven Quotas

The remaining 11 Quotas will be distributed through the Olympic Qualifiers. Each of these tournaments will consist of two rounds: pre-qualifiers and qualifiers.

Women's Olympic Pre-Qualification Tournaments

Total 22 teams will compete in pre-qualifier tournaments. There will be three such tournaments - one in Asia, one in America (each of which will play four teams) and one in Africa (which will play six teams). The top two teams from each tournament will advance to the Olympic Qualifiers.

The participating teams will be selected based on the results of the Continental Cups to be held in 2023, according to the following principle:

  • Top 6 teams from Africa
  • Top 8 teams from America
  • Top 8 teams from Asia (including Oceania)

In addition, the winner of the World Cup (if it is not a European team) will also take part in the pre-qualification tournaments.

Women's Olympic Qualifiers

Total 16 teams representing all continents/geographic regions will participate in the qualification tournaments. There will be four such tournaments - four teams in each. Each continent/geographic region will be required to host one of the qualifying tournaments.

Both the host country team and the 2022 FIBA ​​Women's World Cup winner team will compete in the Olympic Qualifiers. According to the results of the tournaments, 12 teams, including the team of France and the team of world champions - 2022, will receive the coveted Olympic tickets.

The following teams will eventually qualify for the qualifiers:

  • Two teams from Africa (qualified through the African pre-qualifier) ​​
  • Four teams from America (qualified through the American pre-qualifier) ​​
  • Four teams from Asia/Oceania (qualified through the Asian pre-qualifier) ​​
  • Six teams from Europe (France + top five teams from the last European Women's Basketball Championship) ).

The FIBA ​​Central Bureau reserves the right to confirm the Women's Olympic Pre-Qualification Tournament until June 1, 2023. In the event that the Olympic Pre-Qualification Tournaments are not held, an appropriate number of teams from each continent will qualify for the Olympic Qualification Tournaments directly through the 2023 Continental Championships.

When will the Paris 2024 basketball tournament take place?

The 2024 Paris Basketball Tournament will run from July 27 to August 11, 2024 .

As of today, the group stage is scheduled to take place at Stade Pierre Maurois in Lille and the play-off stage at Arena Bercy in Paris , but the venues have not yet been finalized.

Which basketball players to follow in Paris 2024?

Men

Team USA will come to Paris as the favorite. They have become champions of the last four Olympic Games, including Tokyo 2020 where they defeated France in the final. Led by San Antonio Spurs legend Greg Popovich , the Stars and Stripes won the title with a constellation of NBA stars including Kevin Durant, Zach Lavin, Draymond Green and Jason Tatum .

The coach of the Golden State Warriors is now on the coaching bridge of the national team Steve Kerr , and we have every chance to see his most star player - four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry - in the team. Especially as the latter stated that even with all his titles, he is "still not good enough" as he "should play for Coach Kerr in Paris 2024".

France will also aim for the gold medal at home after a strong performance in the Tokyo 2020 tournament final. Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier is among the team's all-stars, and with NBA center Joel Embiid recently granted French citizenship, the home team may well have what it takes to succeed.

Among the strong contenders for the podium is also the Slovenian team , which reached the semi-finals in Tokyo 2020. They include three-time NBA All-Star point guard Luka Doncic .

Women

Women's tournament dominance 9Team USA 0005 is even more absolute - they won gold at the last seven Olympics. Since women's basketball was included in the 90,005 Montreal 1976 Games, 90,006 American women have won the title 9 out of 12 times.

At the Tokyo 2020 tournament, WNBA stars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi won their fifth Olympic title and beat another legend, Teresa Edwards , became the only basketball players who managed to do so.

Bird will retire at the end of the 2022 WNBA season, but Taurasi may well go to Paris. Most recently, she became the first player over 40 in the WNBA to score 30 points in a single game. In the NBA, only Michael Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki managed to do this.

While Team USA remains the favorite to win for the eighth consecutive time, Team France is among the contenders for the podium. New York Liberty shooting guard likely to feature at home games Marine Joannes and young center Iliana Ruper .

The Belgian team, which has grown significantly in recent years thanks to the likes of Emma Misseman , may also come in as a surprise. In Tokyo 2020, the Belgians reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to hosts Japan 86-85.

The Japanese team is also worth keeping an eye on in Paris 2024 - they play some pretty attractive basketball. In major tournaments, 9 also usually performs well.0005 Australian team .

Basketball in Paris 2024. Key dates

  • September 22 - October 1, 2022: FIBA ​​World Basketball Championship among women - 2022, Australia

  • June 2023: European Basketball Championship - 2023 9000 9000

    ,0005 August August August : FIBA ​​Men's Olympic Pre-Qualifiers

  • August 25 - September 10, 2023: FIBA ​​World Basketball Championship among men-2023, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia

  • November 2023: Olympic Fiba Pre-Application tournaments among women

  • 9000,0005 November 30, 2023: Noki confirm Fiba use by Fiba use by Fiba use by Fiba use by Fiba use by Fibaba use Fiba. competitions for men and women

  • February 2024 : FIBA ​​Women's Olympic Qualifiers

  • Date to be announced: 66 Olympic qualification tournaments FIBA ​​among men 2024

  • July 8, 2024: Dyaline for applications for games

  • 26 - August 11, 2024 2024 in Paris

9000 📬 9000 📬 9000 subscribe to the Olympics Telegram channel to be the first to know about your favorite athletes and major sporting events0001

Olympic tournament guide.

Tomorrow the hockey tournament starts at the Olympic Games. The NHL did not let its players go to Beijing, so the main favorite for gold, like four years ago, is the Russian team. At the same time, there are too many scandals around the Russian team in China: hockey players demanded a separate plane for themselves, and the “army” headquarters seem to be settling old scores.

We'll tell you why this team is weaker than the Pyeongchang example, who the US and Canada brought in, and what to expect from the rivals of our team in the group.

Photo: FHR official website

DUE TO COVID, TWO TEAM CAN BE WIN AT ONCE

In China, athletes are no longer surprised by daily tests, robots that deliver food to rooms, and a ban on leaving the competition area. At the same time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has developed an additional protocol for hockey teams. Nobody wants to be left without hockey in Beijing - the tournament must go through at any cost.

Teams were allowed to enter 25 players of the main team and six substitutes. In the case of positive tests for someone from the main team, a replacement can be made. But no later than five hours before the start of the match. You will have to play even if half of the team passes positive tests. The minimum application for a match is 13 field players and two goalkeepers. Technical defeat threatens only if it is not possible to collect even this number of players. If both opponents cannot play at the group stage due to covid, they will be considered a draw without points being added to the standings.

Photo: official website of FHR

But the most interesting thing awaits us in the playoffs. If any of the teams that have reached the final stage cannot enter the ice, it will be replaced by the team with the highest rating from those who were eliminated in the previous stage. Moreover, two champions are possible at the Beijing Olympics. This will happen if all participants in the final match and the game for third place fail to recruit 13 outfield players and two goalkeepers. Then the organizers will award two gold and two bronze sets of medals. If one of the finalists falls ill, he will be replaced by the winner of the bronze match.

In general, the hockey tournament in Beijing will be held in any case. Only now the champion needs not only to beat opponents, but also covid outside the ice rink.

RUSSIA TEAM IN BEIJING: BECOME WEAKER THAN IN THE VICTORIOUS PYEONGCHANG

The main problem of the hockey tournament in Beijing is the lack of players from the NHL. Overseas refused to let their hockey players into China. Officially - due to covid. Now the Olympic tournament is more like one of the stages of the Eurotour with players from European championships. This makes Russia a favorite.

Everyone is waiting for the team to repeat the success of 2018, when they took the "gold" in Pyeongchang, defeating Germany in overtime of the final match. Now the team has become weaker. Then the line-up included stars of level Kirill Kaprizov and Vladislav Gavrikov , who now play in the NHL. Yes, Mikhail Grigorenko , Nikita Gusev , Vyacheslav Voynov and Nikita Nesterov have not gone away. But if in 2018 they were considered NHL-level players, now I can forget about the years of overseas career.

Vadim Shipachev / photo: FHR official website

Two superstars of the Russian national team - forwards Vadim Shipachev and Nikita Gusev . Shipachev is the top scorer of the current KHL season and the most expensive Russian player in the league. In Beijing, he, along with Olga Fatkulina , was the flag bearer at the opening of the Games. Shipachev helps to compare the levels of national teams in 2018 and now. Now he is the main star and captain of the team, and in Korea he was put on the bench after a mistake in the first match and he did not play in the tournament again.

Gusev became the hero of the 2018 Olympics: it was he who equalized the score 56 seconds before the end of normal time and saved Russia from shame. Nikita, like Shipachev, failed the overseas stage of his career and returned to the KHL. Now he is the leader of SKA and, perhaps, the most creative player of the Russian national team. The composition of the national team in Beijing was assembled according to the principle: two creative links and two links of power players. The first two threes should play in the attack, the rest should destroy the opponents' game and play with an emphasis on defense. In this regard, the composition of the national team looks balanced: there are Shipachev, Gusev, Grigorenko and Stanislav Galiev in attack. The role of destroyers will be performed by Dmitry Voronkov , Sergey Andronov , Andrey Chibisov and others.

Nikita Gusev / photo: official website of the FHR

As for the goalkeeper team, the main team at the Olympics will be Ivan Fedotov from CSKA. He spends his first season at a top club and has never played in a World Cup or Olympics. Timur Bilyalov from Ak Bars and not the main goalkeeper of SKA compete for the place of the second goalkeeper Alexander Samonov . Kazan is still working with a reserve. The goalkeeper team has practically no experience of playing at the international level, but the level of the current Olympics allows you to go into battle with these goalkeepers. Russia has no others - all of our strongest goalkeepers now play in the NHL.

STRANGE STORY OF SKA'S BEST PLAYER: HIM WERE ONLY RESERVED AND THEN SENT HOME

After the NHL refused to let players go, the Russian team opened up space not only for choosing players from the KHL, but also for intrigues. Before the Olympics, several clans fought for power in the national team, and people from CSKA won. That is why it should not be surprising that assistant coach Alexei Zhamnov became Sergey Fedorov from CSKA, who only spends his first season as a head coach. The president of CSKA Igor Esmantovich was appointed as an adviser to the head coach. Of course, the record number of players in the national team is from the army club (seven at once).

Anton Burdasov (left) / photo: SKA official website

If in the last Olympic cycle the team was led to victory by people from SKA and personally Roman Rotenberg , who did not go to Beijing at all and headed the St. Petersburg club, now the CSKA party has all the power , which enjoys support in power circles at the level of the Russian government. The battle for power in the Russian team before the Olympics is unlikely to benefit the team itself. It is now often called players by club affiliation and ignore the best hockey players from other teams.

Very strange things unfolded around the two best players in SKA. Anton Burdasov , the third KHL sniper, did not even make it to the expanded squad. According to one version, Burdasov was ignored due to a conflicted departure from CSKA several years ago. Even more illogical is the rejection of Andrey Kuzmenko . The main star of SKA is having a great season: he is called the best winger in the KHL, and he himself is the second scorer in the league after Shipachyov. Kuzmenko is playing so powerfully this season that there is more and more talk of interest in him from NHL clubs.

Andrey Kuzmenko / photo: FHR official website

And if the best should play in the national team at the Olympics, then ignoring Kuzmenko looks extremely ridiculous. Andrei came to Beijing, but only as a substitute player. A few days later, Kuzmenko completely left the location of the national team and flew back to St. Petersburg. The head coach of the national team Zhamnov said that the hockey player left the team due to a microtrauma. At the same time, literally on the day of departure, Kuzmenko trained on ice and felt fine. SKA recently announced that the striker will play at the tournament in Sochi from 9th to 12 February. How can he be injured?

This whole situation definitely does not work for the image of the Russian national team, where one of the best players in the KHL is ignored. At one time, Kuzmenko was exchanged from CSKA to SKA. The Moscow club explained the exchange simply: Andrei said that he would leave for the NHL in the summer and therefore there was no point in building a team around him. Kuzmenko, however, did not leave for the NHL and remained in SKA. Perhaps the bosses of CSKA still cannot forgive him for this maneuver.

A FEW MORE SCANDALS AROUND THE TEAM: THEY DEMANDED A SEPARATE PLANE, THE COMPOSITION IS DETERMINED BY THE SHAMAN

The reputation of the national team in Beijing was spoiled by several more scandals. Before the start of the Olympics, it turned out that the team did not want to fly to Beijing on the same plane as the rest of the athletes of the national team. Despite the fact that all the athletes were vaccinated and were in isolation for several weeks, the hockey team was sure that it was not safe to fly with everyone else. As a result, the team asked for a separate plane for itself, and thus caused a flurry of criticism from other athletes.

“Let our hockey players not live in the Olympic village and sit down at the table with me,” said the Olympic champion in short track Ruslan Zakharov . The general manager of the national team Ilya Kovalchuk said that he did not understand why such a scandal was inflated. According to him, the hockey players in Pyeongchang 2018 also flew on a separate flight, as the national team had too large a delegation.

Hockey players were eventually provided with a separate aircraft. But the main question is at whose expense? According to one version, millionaires from the KHL chipped in on a separate board from their own pocket. However, they should be reimbursed for all costs. The main problem is not that the team wanted to fly separately, but that this problem was solved at the last moment, the day before the flight to Beijing. If the hockey team had initially reserved a separate plane for itself, then there would have been no hype.

Ilya Kovalchuk / photo: official website of FHR

Another strange story around the national team is connected with a certain astrologer Sher Ismailov . In his article, Komsomolskaya Pravda writes that not a single serious issue in the national team is resolved without Ismailov's advice, and the astrologer himself almost appoints the composition of the national team. The article also states that Ismailov is a close friend of Esmantovich, who helps him in CSKA. The astrologer has a huge hockey background: he worked at Dynamo when the Moscow club won the Gagarin Cup twice, was in the Russian team at the victorious World Championship in Minsk and at the Olympics in Pyeongchang. Only in the capacity of whom it is not clear, because Ismailov does not have any official position.

According to another version, Ismailov is so close to hockey because of his father, who was a colleague of the former Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Rashid Nurgaliev. Nurgaliyev is a big hockey fan and has been supervising the HC MVD for a long time. Judging by the astrologer's Instagram, he did not fly to Beijing with the national team, and Zhamnov and Kovalchuk even stated that they did not know such a person. Nevertheless, the story caused a great resonance.

WHO WILL RUSSIA PLAY IN THE GROUP?

At the preliminary stage, 12 teams are divided into three groups. Each team will play each other once, and everyone will leave the group. The winners of the groups and one team from the second place with the best results go directly to the quarter-finals. The remaining eight teams will play an additional playoff round. Then everything is in the classic format.

The Russian national team in group B will meet with the teams of Switzerland, Denmark and the Czech Republic. The group is not the most difficult, given that the main competitors - the US and Canada teams - will play in group A, and Finland and Sweden in group C.

Nevertheless, Russia will definitely not have an easy walk, but nothing should prevent our team from taking first place and directly reaching the quarterfinals. The Czechs, who brought a fairly strong squad to Beijing, should deliver the most problems. They have a good goalkeeper team - there is Traktor's main goalkeeper Roman Vill and Avangard goalkeeper Shimon Grubets - current winner of the Gagarin Cup. The main star of the Czech Republic is striker David Krejci , who until recently was the leader of Boston.


The Czechs had problems arriving in Beijing. Several players immediately passed positive tests and were isolated. It even got to the point that the serviceman of the team went to training as a reserve goalkeeper. Now the situation has stabilized and almost all the players have returned to the squad.

The Swiss national team has been performing well at the World Championships in recent years. In 2018, for example, the Swiss played Sweden in the final. Hockey in this country is on the rise, but at the Olympics, Switzerland is unlikely to be a serious rival for Russia, since its best hockey players play in the NHL.

The same goes for the Danish team, which brought players from the European championships to China. There are several players there who are familiar to us from the KHL. At the same time, the main defender of the Danes Philip Larsen canceled a trip to Beijing in order to better prepare for playing in the playoffs for Salavat Yulaev.

AMERICANS BRING YOUTH FROM CANADA FORMER NHL SUPERSTAR

Canada tested its squad for the Olympics tournament at the Channel One Cup, calling players from the KHL and European leagues. Most of them made it to the final lineup.

There were some surprises. Eric Staal , the Canadian hockey legend who won the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, is also flying to Beijing. For this, he even specially signed a contract with the AHL club (Iowa) in order to gain tone and be on a par with teammates. Called to the Games and five juniors, two of which are the first and third number of the NHL draft. Owen Power and Mason McTavish are the leaders of the youth team. Power even traveled with the main team to the World Championship in the spring and played in the first two pairs of defense, and McTavish has played nine games for Anaheim this season.

Erik Staal / photo: Paul Chiasson, globallookpress. com

Team Canada has three Ak Bars players: defenders Mark Barberio and Jason Demers , and forward Jordan Weale . Barberio was not at the Channel One Cup, but he convinced of his need for the Games. Wil this season is the second scorer of the Kazan team (30 points). Barberio joined the team only in December, and Demers even after the Russian stage of the Eurotour. In general, the Canadian team in terms of class and skill does not differ much from what was at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The average age of the US team is 25 years old. This is the youngest team in the tournament. The Americans brought 15 students, which was a surprise. The guys on defense should be Ak Bars defender Steven Kaempfer and David Worsofsky . Kempfer is Kazan's best defender this season. He has 30 points in 46 matches. Moreover, Stephen never played in the US team. For the defender, the current Olympics is the first and last chance to play in such a tournament. Unless he is overtaken by the coronavirus, as reported from the Olympic village in recent days.

Owen Power / photo: Jason Franson, globallookpress.com

The focus is on young people. For example, guard Jake Sanderson , an Ottawa prospect who has proven himself thanks to his versatile attack and defense game. It will be interesting to watch the KHL players - Andy Miele and Kenny Agostino (both Torpedo). Forwards dragged the Nizhny Novgorod club this season (36 and 40 points, respectively), speaking in the first two triples.


FINNS AND SWEDS SHADOW FAVORITES

While Russian fans are afraid of Canada and the USA, bookmakers consider the teams of Finland and Sweden to be the main rivals. It's hard to disagree with this. If it is not yet clear what to expect from the North American teams, then we know the Swedes and Finns well from the stages of the Eurotour. The composition of these teams is more precisely not weaker than that of Canada and the United States. Many Finns and Swedes are in leading roles in the KHL.

Finland is traditionally the favorite for any big tournament. At the last World Championship, the Finns lost in the final to Canada, and before that they won gold medals. Most recently, Finland beat Russia at the Channel One Cup and won the Moscow stage of the Eurotour. The Finns have 15 players from the KHL at once. Almost all of them are in leading roles. Harri Syateri , for example, is the main goalkeeper of Siberia and is in the top 5 best goalkeepers in the league in all statistical indicators. Metallurg's main goalkeeper Juho Olkinuora is having a great season. The main attacking force of the Finns is the trio Markus Granlund , Sakari Manninen and Teemu Hartikainen from Salavat Yulaev. There is also forward Harri Pesonen , who is having a great season in Switzerland, and forward Leo Komarov , who recently returned from the NHL and moved to SKA.

Teemu Hartikainen / photo: BUSINESS Online

But Finland's main strength is not in individual names, but in the game system. The Finns play the same way in any tournament - reliable in defense and pragmatic in attack. Problems in Finland can only arise due to the lack of Marco Anttila . The captain and leader of the Finns passed a positive test and is now isolated.

The Swedes have won the last two of the six World Cups (2017, 2018). There is hardly any doubt that they also came to Beijing to win. At the same time, Sweden chose an ambiguous composition for the Olympics. So, for example, out of the top 20 top scorers in the Swedish championship, there are only two players in the national team, and out of the top 10 most productive Swedes in the KHL, only three hockey players came to Beijing, and all of them are defenders. Two of them have already been replaced due to the coronavirus.

Anton Lander / photo: BUSINESS Online

As a result, this Swedish team in Beijing will have a good goalkeeping team made up entirely of KHL goalkeepers: Lars Johansson (SKA), Magnus Hellberg (Sochi) and Adam Reideborn (CSKA) ).


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