Pavel Datsyuk named to Russia’s World Cup Squad

Bit by bit, national teams are announcing the first wave of players that they’ll be bringing with them to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Team Russia was one of the first to the punch this morning, and, unsurprisingly, the team that’s going to need to defy the odds of reality to win will be bringing their best magician with them.

This is far from Datsyuk’s first tour of duty with the Men’s National Team, who he has represented for fifteen years. The native of Yekaterinburg played in the 2001, 2003, 2005, 2010, and 2012 World Championships, 2005 and 2012 European Hockey Tours, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 Olympics, and the 2004 World Cup. Owing to his under-the-radar status as a youth player, Datsyuk never represented Russia at the junior level.

Datsyuk has Bronze (2005), Silver (2010, and Gold (2012) medals at the World Championships, and a Bronze Medal from the 2002 Olympic games in Salt Lake City, USA. He was also Russia’s captain for the first time at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Russia still hasn’t announced all of its players yet, meaning that there is still time for further additions from the Red Wings Roster. Expect Alexey Marchenko to be a candidate for one of the remaining spots on defence, though they might look to the KHL and beyond to fill out some spots.

The tournament begins on September 17th and will end on October 1st. All games will be played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada.