The Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics are the perfect time to take a trip down memory lane and construct the best Canadian Men’s Hockey roster in history ahead of Canada playing its tournament opener against Czechia on Thursday, February 13.
While at first an abundance of riches is the easiest way to describe the wealth of talent Canada has to pull from, NHL stars have only been eligible to play in a handful of the Olympic tournaments.
Here is my greatest Canadian roster in Olympic history.
Canada's forwards
| Macklin Celebrini | Sidney Crosby | Nathan MacKinnon |
| Wayne Gretzky | Mario Lemieux | Jarome Iginla |
| Joe Sakic | Connor McDavid | Mitch Marner |
| Ryan Getzlaf | Jonathan Toews | Eric Lindros |
| Harry Watson | Patrice Bergeron |
The elephant in the room is that Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Mitch Marner, and Macklin Celebrini won’t debut in the Olympics until this week, but you can’t leave any of the four off the roster.
McDavid and MacKinnon are lineup locks with Hart Trophies on their mantles, and Marner and Celebrini are offensive stars who play a 200-foot game. Celebrini’s speed and possession game fit anywhere in the lineup, and Marner can play both special teams and checks the playmaker box alongside wherever he slots in.
The rest of the lineup is a who’s who of NHL Hall of Famers with sterling international resumes, and then there’s Harry Watson, who scored 36 goals over five games during the 1924 Olympics.
Sorry, you just can’t leave that scoring touch in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland.
Honorable Mentions
Steve Yzerman: Superstar edged out by Patrice Bergeron because of defensive acumen and international chemistry with Sidney Crosby.
Joe Juneau: Incredible 1992 showing with 15 points (6G) warrants acknowledgement.
Paul Kariya: Inability to play the middle hurts Kariya’s case, in addition to the likelihood of cracking either special-teams unit.
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Canada's defensemen
| Chris Pronger | Cale Makar |
| Scott Niedermayer | Drew Doughty |
| Duncan Keith | Shea Weber |
| Ray Bourque | Al MacInnis |
The skating ability of Cale Makar, Scott Niedermayer, and Duncan Keith complements the well-rounded games of Chris Pronger, Drew Doughty, and Shea Weber, and having Ray Bourque and Al MacInnis in your back pocket is luxurious.
Additionally, all four sets of defensemen are a left- and right-handed pairing.
Honorable Mentions
Rob Blake: The right side of this defense corps is loaded, and Blake wouldn’t crack either power-play unit.
Adam Foote: In addition to being a right-handed shot, Foote can’t match the offensive punch of the eight blueliners in front of him.
Canada's goalies
| Roberto Luongo | Carey Price | Sean Burke |
Robert Luongo won seven of eight starts with a 1.69 GAA, while Carey Price was perfect in 2014 with five wins and a minuscule 0.60 GAA.
Sean Burke backstopped Canada in 1988 and 1992 and checks in as the perfect No. 3 behind the one-two punch of Luongo and Price.
Honorable Mentions
Martin Brodeur: Solid but unspectacular 6-3-1-1 record slots him into backup duty and an unfamiliar role.
