Over 135,000 people voted on who Germany’s flag bearer should be at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
No word on how many Canadian voters there were, but there were likely a few.
Germany announced on Wednesday that Leon Draisaitl would be one of two flagbearers at the upcoming Milano Cortina Olympics, alongside ski jumper Katharina Schmid.
There were six athletes total, three men and three women, who were candidates to be Germany’s flag bearer.
After the announcement, Draisaitl thanked both Edmonton Oilers fans and Canadians for voting him in.
“Hey, Oil Country, hey Canada, thank you for voting me as the flag bearer for Team Germany at the Olympics.”
“I feel so proud and lucky I get to do that, and it’s all thanks to you guys.”
Perhaps Draisaitl has a better idea of how many Oilers fans worked to vote him in.
The Cologne, Germany, native is the first ice hockey player in nearly 100 years to carry the flag for his country at the Olympics. The only other ice hockey player who was a German flagbearer at the Olympics was Martin Schröttle, who did so back in 1932.
That year, Germany won the bronze medal in men’s ice hockey. It was their first of three men’s ice hockey medals in the country’s history. West Germany also won bronze in 1976, while Germany took home silver in 2018.
Of course, no NHL players were at the Olympics when Germany won in 2018.
This will be Draisaitl’s first time playing at the Olympics, with NHL players returning for the first time since 2014.
He is one of three Olympians from the Oilers roster, alongside fellow German Josh Samanski and, of course, Connor McDavid.
Draisaitl and the Germans are in a group alongside Denmark, Latvia and the United States. They play their first game on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 1:10 p.m. MT.