Former Petes Staal, McTavish named to Canada’s Olympics men’s hockey team

I’m looking forward to this chance to represent our country and go for a gold medal, Staal says

Eric Staal wasn’t thinking about the Olympics when the 2021-22 hockey season started.

Hockey Canada announced its 25man Olympic men’s roster Tuesday with two ex-Petes representing the team’s oldest and youngest players — Staal at 37 and Mason McTavish at 19.

A free agent, Staal was training in Minnesota hoping to sign with an NHL team when Hockey Canada called after the NHL withdrew from the Beijing Games.

“It’s sometimes funny how things work out,” Staal said in a news conference Tuesday from Canada’s pre-Olympic training camp in Davos, Switzerland.

He played four games for the AHL’s Iowa Wild to get in game shape, scoring two goals and three assists.

“With the finish I had with the Habs getting all the way to the final, I figured I’d stay in shape and see what was out there. If there was an opportunity, I’d be ready,” Staal said.

“This opportunity was something that was too good to pass up. I’m looking forward to this chance to represent our country and go for a gold medal.”

It’s a much different group than he won a gold medal with in Vancouver where he was surrounded by NHL superstars. This team has 21 players making their Olympic debut including junior, college, minor league and European league players.

“I love the look of our lineup,” Staal said.

“Obviously, you have to get out on the ice to feel how it’s all going to play out, but (head coach) Claude (Julien) and the staff have done a great job so far outlining what they’re looking for and what the plan of action is.”

NHL players or not, Staal said it’s a tough tournament to win.

“You need everything to line up correctly and you need to be the best team in the end. We have great players, but we need to perform as a team and we need to have everybody on board with what we’re trying to accomplish.”

McTavish was in diapers when Staal played his first NHL game in 1993.

“Any team I’ve ever had success on has a great balance of youth and experience,” he said. “The way our roster is set up, I think we have that. It’s fun to be around those young guys and watch how they compete in practice and their skill level and talent. As an experienced guy, it brings out a little more energy and excitement.”

Julien said Staal’s experience and leadership will be invaluable.

“You can never underestimate the experience of having lived through it,” Julien said. “Eric has had all that experience at the Olympics before, his NHL career and number of games he’s played. That’s invaluable. You need people like that to lead the way. He has the right attitude that he’s going to do that for us and help this team gel.

“As coaches you do the best you can with your coaching staff to try to bring the team together, but there has to be some of that happening inside the dressing room. That’s where guys like that can be extremely helpful.”

Julien isn’t concerned about McTavish’s youth.

“He’s a strong player that can handle playing at this kind of level with men,” he said. “He was dominant at the world juniors in that little sample we got to see. He handled himself really, really well and you could tell his strength was dominant against other players like that. His skillset is not something we question at all.

“He has good size, good strength and is strong on the puck. He’s one of those guys we feel is ready to jump into the lineup and help us at the Olympics.”

Canada opens the tournament on Feb. 10 against Germany.