By Hockey Canada

CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has announced the first 22 players who will wear the Maple Leaf with Canada’s National Men’s Team at the 2024 IIHF World Championship, May 10-26 in Prague and Ostrava, and Czechia.

The initial roster, which includes three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 12 forwards, was selected by general manager Rick Nash (Brampton, ON/Columbus, NHL), associate general manager Kyle Dubas (Sault Ste. Marie, ON/Pittsburgh, NHL) and assistant general manager Scott Salmond (Creston, BC). A selection committee of three NHL executives – Jim McKenzie (Gull Lake, SK/Vegas, NHL), Jamie Pushor (Lethbridge, AB/Tampa Bay, NHL) and Tim Taylor (Stratford, ON/St. Louis, NHL) – and the coaching staff also assisted with player selections.

Among the 22 players are 11 who have previously suited up for Canada at the IIHF World Championship (Bunting, Cozens, Fantilli, Hofer, Mangiapane, McBain, McCann, Mercer, Parayko, Power, Severson) and 14 who have IIHF World Junior Championship experience (Bedard, Binnington, Byram, Celebrini, Cozens, Daws, Fantilli, Greig, Guenther, Guhle, Hofer, Mercer, Oleksiak, Zellweger).

“We are excited to unveil the first 22 players who will wear the Maple Leaf at the 2024 IIHF World Championship. This is a group that includes several players who have been successful on the international stage, and we know fans will be thrilled to watch us compete against the top hockey nations,” Nash said. “We know our players will represent Canada with pride in Prague and Ostrava, and we are confident this group will give us a great chance to defend our gold medal this month.”

Roster additions will be announced in the coming weeks.

Canada will open the tournament against Great Britain on May 11 at 6:20 a.m. ET/3:20 a.m. PT. It will also take on Denmark, Austria, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Czechia in the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on May 26. Prior to the start of the tournament, Canada’s National Men’s Team will play pre-tournament games against Austria at Steffl Arena in Vienna on May 5 and Hungary at the MVM Dome in Budapest on May 7, with both games starting at 7 p.m. local time.

Kevin Clark (Winnipeg, MB/Düsseldorfer EG, DEL), who has helped Canada win the Spengler Cup twice (2015, 2019), will join Canada’s National Men’s Team for its pre-tournament camp in Vienna and Budapest.

TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcast partners, will broadcast 64 and 23 games, respectively; please check local listings for details.

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, or follow along through social media on Facebook, X and Instagram.