Wild's Parise, Suter make U.S. Olympic team; 8 Minnesotans on roster
Zach Parise and Ryan Suter will be headed to another Olympics.
Parise and Suter, the two Minnesota Wild stars, were among 25 players named to the U.S. men's hockey team for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Parise and Suter were part of the team four years ago that won the silver medal and will be joined in February's games by eight other players with Minnesota ties.
Along with the Minneapolis-born Parise, forwards David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Derek Stepan, Blake Wheeler, and defensemen Justin Faulk, Paul Martin and Ryan McDonagh also hail from Minnesota. Forward Phil Kessel, from Madison, Wis., played collegiately at the University of Minnesota.
Parise and Suter were part of a leadership group for USA Hockey at the team's summer orientation camp along with Backes, Dustin Brown and Ryan Callahan.
Suter leads a defensive corps that includes Faulk, Martin, McDonagh, John Carlson, Cam Fowler, Brooks Orpik and Kevin Shattenkirk.
The forwards will consist of Backes, Brown, Callahan, Patrick Kane, Ryan Kesler, Kessel, Oshie, Max Pacioretty, Parise, Joe Pavelski, Paul Stastny, Stepan, James Van Riemsdyk and Wheeler.
The three goaltenders are 2010 tournament MVP Ryan Miller, Jonathan Quick and Jimmy Howard.
Wild forward Jason Pominville, who was born in Canada, but plays with the U.S. national team because of his dual citizenship, didn't make the team. Minnesotans Kyle Okposo, Erik Johnson and Dustin Byfuglien were also among the players under consideration.
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