Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby headline Canada’s Olympic hockey camp roster

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Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby are among 42 NHL players invited to Hockey Canada’s men’s Olympic orientation camp, set for late August in Calgary.

The orientation camp is a three-day, off-ice event featuring presentations, team-building sessions and meetings aimed at preparing players and staff for the upcoming Olympic season.

The roster includes the six players — McDavid, Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Sam Reinhart of the Florida Panthers — named to the team in June.

The list features all 24 players from Canada’s championship-winning squad at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, including the same trio of goaltenders — Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues, Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights and Sam Montembeault of the Montreal Canadiens.

Also invited are forwards Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals, John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal’s Nick Suzuki, along with defenceman Evan Bouchard of the Edmonton Oilers.

The men’s Olympic hockey tournament runs Feb. 11-22 in Milan, Italy. Canada won its third gold medal in four Games, the last time NHL players participated in the Olympics in 2014.

On the women’s side of things, Hockey Canada has invited 30 players to the national women’s team orientation camp, also being held in Calgary.

The national governing body of hockey also is summoning 17 para hockey players for presentations and meetings, and team-building opportunities for the upcoming season.

Four goaltenders, 10 defenders and 16 forwards have been invited to the women’s camp, including 17 who helped Canada beat the United States 3-2 in the final to win a gold medal in 2022 in Beijing. Women’s Olympic rosters in Italy will be 23 players.

Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse, Brianne Jenner, Laura Stacey, Natalie Spooner, Renata Fast, Jocelyne Larocque and goaltenders Ann-Renee Desbiens and Emerance Maschmeyer are among the veterans.

Defenders Chloe Primerano and Nicole Gosling, forward Caitlin Kraemer, and goaltenders Kayle Osborne and Eve Gascon are among players under the age of 23 on the roster.