The latest step(s) on the Olympic road to Sochi, Russia, came on Monday when various national hockey federations released their orientation camp rosters.
There was significant Los Angeles-Anaheim representation, and a decided youth movement in terms of the makeup of Team USA. Of the 48 players invited to USA Hockey’s camp at the end of August, only four were born before 1984 -- goalies Craig Anderson (Ottawa Senators) and Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres) and defensemen Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik (Pittsburgh Penguins).
The Kings who are invited are goalie Jonathan Quick and forwards Dustin Brown and Trevor Lewis. The Ducks who will be going to the camp Aug. 26 and 27 in Arlington, Va., are defenseman Cam Fowler, forward Kyle Palmieri and a highly touted prospect, goaltender John Gibson.
Gibson, who turned 20 last week, is among six goaltenders invited by USA Hockey. He was drafted by Anaheim in 2011.
Defenseman Drew Doughty and forwards Mike Richards and Jeff Carter of the Kings and center Ryan Getzlaf and forward Corey Perry of the Ducks were among the 47 players on the orientation camp roster for Team Canada.
Team Canada’s camp will be in Calgary, Aug. 25 to 28.
Doughty, Richards, Getzlaf and Perry were members of Canada’s gold-medal winning team at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. The Detroit Red Wings’ Mike Babcock again will serve as head coach and his assistants will be Lindy Ruff (Dallas Stars), Ken Hitchcock (St. Louis Blues) and Claude Julien (Boston Bruins).
Steve Yzerman, Team Canada’s executive director, said on a conference call that the federation planned on bringing 14 forwards to the Olympics.
Rising star defenseman Slava Voynov of the Kings was among the 35 players on Russia’s list, which was also released on Monday.
-Lisa Dillman
