Candidates for the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team, 11 of whom have Minnesota ties, will gather next week in Plymouth, Mich., for team-building and orientation in preparation for the Winter Games, which are Feb. 6-22 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
There will be 44 NHL players at the gathering Aug. 26-27; the 25-man team will be revealed in January by Team USA GM Bill Guerin.
The first six members of the team — Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy — have been chosen.
Five former Olympians — St. Paul native Ryan McDonagh, Wild defenseman Brock Faber, former Gopher Matthew Knies, Jake Sanderson and Patrick Kane — will be candidates again.
The U.S. won gold at the world championships following the NHL regular season, and 12 players from that team, mostly composed of non-playoff skaters, will be in Plymouth. They include former Gophers defensemen Brady Skjei and Jackson LaCombe, and ex-Gophers forward Logan Cooley.
Others with Minnesota ties among the 44 include Jake Oettinger (Lakeville), Neal Pionk (UMD and Hermantown), Wild winger Matt Boldy, Jake Guentzel (Woodbury) and Brock Nelson (Warroad).
Mike Sullivan will coach the Olympic team. USA Hockey noted that players who aren’t invited to the camp could still be on the final U.S. squad.