CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has announced the first 20 players who will wear the Maple Leaf with Canada’s National Men’s Team at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, May 12-28 in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia.
The initial roster, with two goaltenders, six defencemen and 12 forwards, includes five Greater Toronto Hockey League alumni:
- Jack McBain (Don Mills Flyers)
- Scott Laughton (Toronto Marlboros)
- Tyler Toffoli (Toronto Jr. Canadiens)
- Adam Fantilli (Toronto Jr. Canadiens)
- Jake Walman (U16: North York Rangers / U18: Toronto Jr. Canadiens)
The roster was selected by general manager Doug Armstrong (Sarnia, Ont./St. Louis, NHL), associate general manager Steve Yzerman (Nepean, Ont./Detroit, NHL), assistant general manager Shane Doan (Halkirk, Alta./Arizona, NHL) and senior vice-president of hockey operations Scott Salmond (Creston, B.C.). A selection committee of three NHL executives – Jim McKenzie (Gull Lake, Sask./Vegas, NHL), Jamie Pushor (Lethbridge, Alta./Tampa Bay, NHL) and Tim Taylor (Stratford, Ont./St. Louis, NHL) – and the coaching staff also assisted with player selections.
Among the 20 players are two who have previously suited up for Canada’s National Men’s Team at the IIHF World Championship (Myers, Toffoli) and 12 who have IIHF World Junior Championship experience (Barron, Crouse, Fantilli, Glass, Krebs, Laughton, Levi, Montembeault, Myers, Neighbours, Quinn, Veleno). The roster also includes two players who wore the Maple Leaf at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games (Levi, McBain).
“We are excited to unveil the first 20 players who will wear the Maple Leaf at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, as this is a group that combines international experience with veteran leadership and young talent,” Armstrong said. “We know these players will represent our country with pride in Tampere and Riga, and we look forward to competing for a gold medal this month.”
Canada’s National Men’s Team roster additions will be announced in the coming weeks.
Prior to the start of the tournament, Canada’s National Men’s Team will practice at the MVM Dome in Budapest, Hungary, May 6-9. It will also face off against Hungary on May 9 as part of its pre-tournament schedule.
Canada will open the 2023 IIHF World Championship against the host Latvians on May 12 at 1:20 p.m. ET/10:20 a.m. PT. It will also take on Slovenia, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Norway and Czechia in the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on May 28. TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will once again provide extensive coverage, with TSN broadcasting all 64 tournament games and RDS broadcasting 24 games.
Since 1931, Canada has collected 28 gold medals at the world championship, to go along with 16 silver and seven bronze.
For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Men’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca.
