2014 Winter Olympics: Eight Rangers Invited To Olympic Orientation Camps
Eight New York Rangers will be heading to Olympic orientation camps as Marc Staal, Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan, Henrik Lundqvist, Carl Hagelin, and Oscar Lindberg will be representing their countries.
The New York Rangers will be represented fairly well at the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia as eight players on their active roster have been invited to team orientation camps. Marc Staal and Rick Nash were named to Team Canada's invite roster, while Ryan Callahan, Ryan McDonagh, and Derek Stepan will be representing the United States.
Henrik Lundqvist, Carl Hagelin, and Oscar Lindberg will also be attending Team Sweden's camp as their orientation roster was announced earlier last month. One name that I was surprised to see left off of Team Canada's invite list was Dan Girardi. He plays a similar style to Marc Staal, and has been growing his game quite a bit over the last several seasons. He wouldn't have been a lock by any means, but I expected him to at least a get a hard look by them.
Speaking of Marc Staal, I wonder how much his invite to Team Canada speaks about his on-going rehab for his eye injury. The fact that he was extended an invite and will be taking part at their orientation camp is good news by itself, especially for Ranger fans.
It's definitely going to be tough rooting against some of our home town boys when the Olympics roll around, but it just shows how far the New York Rangers have come. Eight players is a pretty hefty representation around three different countries. Of course, these are only the preliminary rosters and they will be changing pretty radically as the months chip away, and players are sent home.
It would be nice to see all eight invitees make their respective rosters, but at the end of the day, you never know what can happen.
Thoughts?