Playing hockey in Raleigh at Lenovo center is pretty sweet, but!
“This is the Olympics so I think it’ll be that much better,” Jaccon Slavin said.
Nothing beats playing for your home country in the Olympics… with your felllw countrymen.
“Every time you see those guys you share a special bond,” Sebastian Aho said.
It’s a chance to go for the gold, snd platform your home country.
“I’m always proud to put on the Danish national team jersey and represent Denmark,” Nikolaj Ehlers said.
Five Carolina Hurricanes players will have the honor and the privilege to suit up for their country’s as hockey is set to begin in the 2026 Winter Olympics. THE USA, Canada, Finland… and Denmark are all represented.
Hurricanes Defenseman Jacob Slavin gets to represent the USA and is looking forward to the high level of competition.
“High skill, high pace, anyone can make a play,” Slavin said. “So you just have to be prepared for that, but as a defenseman you can have fun with that too.”
Finland is a small country of just 5.6 Million people or about half the size of north Carolina
So Canes center Sebastian Aho grew up with many of his Finnish teammates.
“Being able to represent Finland in the Olympics it’s an unbelievable honor and to put that jersey on I feel like the whole country united behind us,” Aho said. “It’s a big part of Finnish culture.”
And what’s better than one Dane? Two Danes! The Canes Great Danes Nikolaj Ehlers and Freddie Andersen will be familiar faces for one another. as they represent Denmark.
“I know most of those guys and were like a family,” Ehlers said.
“A lot of great players went before us to get Denmark to where it’s at right now,” Andersen said.
Canadian player Brayden point is dealing with a lower body injury. So on February 5th Canada announced his replacement: Seth Jarvis. Oh, Canada, why’d you take so long to include Jarvy?!
Either way there are five Canes playing for four different countries. All looking to medal.
Let’s go canes!