David E. Klutho-USA TODAY Sports
The Olympic rosters have begun to take shape.
On Thursday morning, Czechia announced its 25-man roster for the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics set to take place next month, featuring a host of former NHLers and other high-profile players from its domestic leagues.
Of note, Czechia will play under the name Czech Republic at this tournament, marking the final time the national will operate under its former namesake in international play.
The full roster can be found below.
Czechia’s team is headlined by former Boston Bruins center David Krejci, who returned to his home country to play this season after becoming a free agent in order to be closer to his family. Krejci still has plenty of gas in the tank despite his decision to step away from the NHL this past summer, however, finishing the 2021 campaign with an impressive 44 points in 51 games before mustering 17 goals and 34 points in 36 games with Olomouc of the Czech league this season.
Krejci will be joined at the 2022 Olympic Games by a host of fellow former NHLers in Michael Frolik, Vladimir Sobotka, Jakub Jerabek, Roman Cervenka, Michal Repik, and Michael Spacek.
Despite NHL talent being barred from participating at this year’s Games, this Czechia squad still has quite the quotient of big-league talent on its roster, making the pursuit of Olympic gold truly anyone’s race.
