Canada men's national ice hockey team facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Canada

Nickname(s)	Team Canada (Équipe Canada)
Association	Hockey Canada
Head coach	André Tourigny
Assistants	Troy Ryan D. J. Smith Alex Tanguay
Captain	Tyler Toffoli
Most games	Brad Schlegel (304)
Top scorer	Brad Schlegel
Most points	Cliff Ronning (156)
IIHF code	CAN
IIHF ranking	1 1 (28 May 2023)
Highest IIHF ranking	1 (first in 2003)
Lowest IIHF ranking	5 (first in 2012)
Team colours	Red, black, white
First international
Canada  8–1  Switzerland (Les Avants, Switzerland; January 10, 1910)
Biggest win
Canada  47–0  Denmark (Stockholm, Sweden; February 12, 1949)
Biggest defeat
Soviet Union  11–1  Canada (Vienna, Austria; April 24, 1977)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances	76 (first in 1920)
Best result	Gold: 28 (1920, 1924, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1994, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2015, 2016, 2021, 2023)
Canada Cup / World Cup
Appearances	8 (first in 1976)
Best result	Winner: 6 (1976, 1984, 1987, 1991, 2004, 2016)
Olympics
Appearances	23 (first in 1920)
Medals	Gold: 9 (1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1948, 1952, 2002, 2010, 2014) Silver: 4 (1936, 1960, 1992, 1994) Bronze: 3 (1956, 1968, 2018)
International record (W–L–T)
1237–425–132

The Canada men's national ice hockey team (popularly known as Team Canada; French: Équipe Canada) is the ice hockey team representing Canada internationally. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. From 1920 until 1963, Canada's international representation was by senior amateur club teams. Canada's national men's team was founded in 1963 by Father David Bauer as a part of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, playing out of the University of British Columbia. The nickname "Team Canada" was first used for the 1972 Summit Series and has been frequently used to refer to both the Canadian national men's and women's teams ever since.

Canada is the leading national ice hockey team in international play, having won the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union, a record four Canada Cups dating back to 1976, a record two World Cups of Hockey, a record nine Olympic gold medals, and a record 28 World Championship titles.

Canada is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Russia, the United States, Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic.

History

Hockey is Canada's national winter sport, and Canadians are extremely passionate about the game. Canada was first represented internationally at the 1910 European Championships by the Oxford Canadians, a team of Canadians from the University of Oxford. They represented Canada again at the 1912 World Championships.

From 1920 until 1963, the senior amateur club teams representing Canada, were usually the most recent Allan Cup champions. The last amateur club team from Canada to win a gold medal at the World Championship was the Trail Smoke Eaters in 1961. The responsibility of choosing which team represented Canada belonged to Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) secretary-manager; George Dudley from 1947 to 1960, and Gordon Juckes from 1960 to 1963.

Following the 1963 World Championships, Father David Bauer founded the national team as a permanent institution. The new permanent national team first competed in ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics. His philosophy was to simply win the games against the weaker countries instead of running up the score. Canada, Czechoslovakia and Sweden finished with identical records of five wins and two losses. Canada thought they had won the bronze medal based on the goal differential in the three games among the tied countries. When they attended the presentation of the Olympic medals, they were disappointed to learn they had finished in fourth place based on goal differential of all seven games played. The players and CAHA president Art Potter accused that International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) president Bunny Ahearne, made a last-minute decision to change the rules and take away a medal from Canada. Marshall Johnston summarized the team's feeling that, "The shepherd and his flock had been fleeced".

Before the Soviet Union began international competition in 1954, Canada dominated international hockey, winning six out of seven golds at the Olympics and 10 World Championship gold medals. Canada then went 50 years without winning the Winter Olympic Gold medal and from 1962 to 1993, didn't win any World Championships. This was in part because Canada's best professional players were unable to attend these events as they had commitments with their National Hockey League teams.

Canada was awarded hosting duties of the 1970 Ice Hockey World Championships with the limited use of former professionals. The IIHF later reversed the permission after International Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage objected to professionals at an amateur event. CAHA president Earl Dawson withdrew the national team from international competitions against European hockey teams until Canada was allowed to use its best players.

Canada returned to the IIHF in 1977 after a series of negotiations between IIHF President Dr. Sabetzki and top officials of professional ice hockey in Canada and the United States. As a result, professionals are allowed to compete at the World Championship and the tournament is scheduled later in the year to ensure more players are available from among the NHL teams eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. In return, a competition for the "Canada Cup" was to be played every four years on North American territory with the participation of Canada, the United States, and the four strongest European national teams, including professionals.

In 1983, Hockey Canada began the "Program of Excellence", whose purpose was to prepare a team for the Winter Olympics every four years. This new National Team played a full season together all over the world against both national and club teams, and often attracted top NHL prospects. In 1986, the International Olympic Committee voted to allow professional athletes to compete in Olympic Games, starting in 1988. Veteran pros with NHL experience and, in a few cases, current NHLers who were holding out in contract disputes joined the team. This program was discontinued in 1998, when the NHL began shutting down to allow its players to compete.

After not winning a gold medal for 33 years, Canada won the 1994 World Championship in Italy. Since that time, they have won in 1997, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2015, 2016, 2021 and 2023. Canada captured its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years at Salt Lake City 2002. At Vancouver 2010, Canada won the gold medal with a 3–2 win against the United States in the final. Sidney Crosby's overtime goal secured Canada the final gold medal awarded at the Games. At the 2012 World Championship in Finland and Sweden, Ryan Murray became the first draft eligible prospect to represent Canada at the Ice Hockey World Championship.

Canada successfully defended gold at Sochi 2014, becoming the first men's team to do so since the Soviet Union in 1988, the first to finish the tournament undefeated since 1984 and the first to do both with a full NHL participation. Their relentless offensive pressure and stifling defence has earned the 2014 squad praise as perhaps the best, most complete Team Canada ever assembled. Drew Doughty and Shea Weber led the team in scoring, while Jonathan Toews scored the gold medal-winning goal in the first period of a 3–0 win over Sweden in the final. The architect behind the 2010 and 2014 teams, Steve Yzerman, immediately stepped down as general manager following the win.

Led by general manager Jim Nill, head coach Todd McLellan, and the late addition of captain Sidney Crosby, Canada won the 2015 IIHF World Championship in dominating fashion over Russia, their first win at the Worlds since 2007. By winning all 10 of their games in regulation, Hockey Canada was awarded a 1 million Swiss franc bonus prize in the first year of its existence. Canada scored 66 goals in their 10 games and had the top three scorers of the tournament: Jason Spezza, Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall. Tyler Seguin also led the championship with nine goals. The win secured Canada's return to number one on the IIHF world rankings for the first time since 2010.

At the 2021 IIHF World Championship, following a cancelled 2020 tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada returned to the competition with a roster weaker than most years, featuring rare inclusions of draft prospects and other non-NHL prospects. The team lost three games in regulation to start the tournament, the first Canadian team in Worlds history to do so, and needed 10 points over the final four round robin games to make the playoff round. Winning the tiebreaker over Kazakhstan, Canada qualified for the playoff round as the lowest seed and managed wins over Russia and the United States before playing Finland for a rematch of the 2019 final in the gold medal game. Nick Paul's goal won the game for Canada in overtime, despite the Finns having either led or been tied the entire game, capping off a most unlikely Canadian IIHF men's gold.

List of teams representing Canada from 1920 to 1963

Competition achievements

Olympic Games

All Olympic ice hockey tournaments between 1920 and 1968 also counted as World Championships.

Games	Representative	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Coach	Manager/GM	Captain	Finish	Ref.
1920 Antwerp	Winnipeg Falcons	3	3	0	0	21	1	Sigurjonsson, GordonGordon Sigurjonsson	Axford, H. A.H. A. Axford	Fredrickson, FrankFrank Fredrickson	1 Gold
1924 Chamonix	Toronto Granites	5	5	0	0	110	3	Rankin, FrankFrank Rankin	Hewitt, WilliamWilliam Hewitt	Munro, DuncDunc Munro	1 Gold
1928 St. Moritz	University of Toronto Grads	3	3	0	0	38	0	Smythe, ConnConn Smythe	Hewitt, WilliamWilliam Hewitt	Porter, JohnJohn Porter	1 Gold
1932 Lake Placid	Winnipeg Hockey Club	6	5	0	1	32	4	Hughes, JackJack Hughes	Marsh, LouLou Marsh	Cockburn, WilliamWilliam Cockburn	1 Gold
1936 Garmisch- Partenkirchen	Port Arthur Bearcats	8	7	1	0	54	7	Pudas, AlAl Pudas	Cochrane, MalcolmMalcolm Cochrane	Murray, HermanHerman Murray	2 Silver
1948 St. Moritz	Ottawa RCAF Flyers	8	7	0	1	69	5	Boucher, FrankFrank Boucher	Watson, SandySandy Watson	Mara, GeorgeGeorge Mara	1 Gold
1952 Oslo	Edmonton Mercurys	8	7	0	1	71	14	Holmes, LouLou Holmes	Christianson, JimJim Christianson	Dawe, BillyBilly Dawe	1 Gold
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo	Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen	8	6	2	0	53	12	Bauer, BobbyBobby Bauer	Goman, ErnieErnie Goman	McKenzie, JackJack McKenzie	3 Bronze
1960 Squaw Valley	Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen	7	6	1	0	55	15	Bauer, BobbyBobby Bauer	Goman, ErnieErnie Goman	Sinden, HarryHarry Sinden	2 Silver
1964 Innsbruck	National team program	7	5	2	0	32	17	Bauer, DavidDavid Bauer	Hindmarch, BobBob Hindmarch	Akervall, HankHank Akervall	4th
1968 Grenoble	National team program	7	5	2	0	28	15	McLeod, JackieJackie McLeod	Bauer, DavidDavid Bauer	Johnston, MarshallMarshall Johnston	3 Bronze
1972 Sapporo	did not participate
1976 Innsbruck
1980 Lake Placid	National team program	6	3	3	0	29	18	Drake, ClareClare Drake	Noonan, RickRick Noonan	Gregg, RandyRandy Gregg	6th
1984 Sarajevo	National team program	7	4	3	0	24	16	King, DaveDave King	King, DaveDave King	Tippett, DaveDave Tippett	4th
1988 Calgary	National team program	8	5	2	1	31	21	King, DaveDave King	King, DaveDave King	Yawney, TrentTrent Yawney	4th
1992 Albertville	National team program	8	6	2	0	37	17	King, DaveDave King	King, DaveDave King	Schlegel, BradBrad Schlegel	2 Silver
1994 Lillehammer	National team program	8	5	2	1	27	19	Renney, TomTom Renney	Kingston, GeorgeGeorge Kingston	Joseph, FabianFabian Joseph	2 Silver
1998 Nagano		6	4	2	0	19	8	Crawford, MarcMarc Crawford	Clarke, BobbyBobby Clarke	Lindros, EricEric Lindros	4th
2002 Salt Lake City		6	4	1	1	22	14	Quinn, PatPat Quinn	Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	1 Gold
2006 Turin		6	3	3	0	15	11	Quinn, PatPat Quinn	Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	Sakic, JoeJoe Sakic	7th
2010 Vancouver		7	6	1	—	32	14	Babcock, MikeMike Babcock	Yzerman, SteveSteve Yzerman	Niedermayer, ScottScott Niedermayer	1 Gold
2014 Sochi		6	6	0	—	17	3	Babcock, MikeMike Babcock	Yzerman, SteveSteve Yzerman	Crosby, SidneySidney Crosby	1 Gold
2018 Pyeongchang	National team program	6	4	2	—	21	12	Desjardins, WillieWillie Desjardins	Burke, SeanSean Burke	Kelly, ChrisChris Kelly	3 Bronze
2022 Beijing	National team program	5	3	2	—	19	9	Claude Julien	Shane Doan	Eric Staal	6th

World Championships

All Olympic ice hockey tournaments between 1920 and 1968 also counted as World Championships. World Championships were not held from 1940 to 1946 during World War II and during the Winter Olympic years of 1980, 1984 or 1988. The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada Cup / World Cup of Hockey

• 1976 – Champions
• 1981 – Runners-up
• 1984 – Champions
• 1987 – Champions
• 1991 – Champions
• 1996 – Runners-up
• 2004 – Champions
• 2016 – Champions

Summit Series

• 1972 – Winners
• 1974 – Runners-up

Spengler Cup

In the Spengler Cup, Team Canada competes against European club teams, such as HC Davos who host the tournament every year in Eisstadion Davos. Canada used to be represented by the standing national team at this event, but is now usually made up of Canadians playing in European leagues or the American Hockey League. In 2019, Team Canada won its 16th Spengler Cup, passing the host team HC Davos (last win in 2011) for the most titles.

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2023 IIHF World Championship.

Head coach: André Tourigny

No.	Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Birthdate	Team
5	D	Jacob Middleton	1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)	99 kg (218 lb)	(1996-01-02) 2 January 1996 (age 28)	Minnesota Wild
7	D	Pierre-Olivier Joseph	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1999-07-01) 1 July 1999 (age 25)	Pittsburgh Penguins
8	F	Cody Glass	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	(1999-04-01) 1 April 1999 (age 25)	Nashville Predators
11	F	Jack McBain	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	96 kg (212 lb)	(2000-01-06) 6 January 2000 (age 24)	Arizona Coyotes
17	F	Milan Lucic	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	105 kg (231 lb)	(1988-06-07) 7 June 1988 (age 36)	Calgary Flames
19	F	Peyton Krebs	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(2001-01-26) 26 January 2001 (age 23)	Buffalo Sabres
20	D	Justin Barron	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(2001-11-15) 15 November 2001 (age 23)	Montreal Canadiens
21	F	Scott Laughton	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(1994-05-30) 30 May 1994 (age 30)	Philadelphia Flyers
22	F	Jack Quinn	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	(2001-09-19) 19 September 2001 (age 23)	Buffalo Sabres
27	G	Devon Levi	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(2001-12-27) 27 December 2001 (age 22)	Buffalo Sabres
30	G	Joel Hofer	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	78 kg (172 lb)	(2000-07-30) 30 July 2000 (age 24)	St. Louis Blues
35	G	Sam Montembeault	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	(1996-10-30) 30 October 1996 (age 28)	Montreal Canadiens
52	D	MacKenzie Weegar – A	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(1994-01-07) 7 January 1994 (age 30)	Calgary Flames
53	F	Michael Carcone	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	77 kg (170 lb)	(1996-05-19) 19 May 1996 (age 28)	Tucson Roadrunners
57	D	Tyler Myers	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	104 kg (229 lb)	(1990-02-01) 1 February 1990 (age 34)	Vancouver Canucks
63	F	Jake Neighbours	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(2002-03-29) 29 March 2002 (age 22)	St. Louis Blues
67	F	Lawson Crouse – A	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	(1997-06-23) 23 June 1997 (age 27)	Arizona Coyotes
73	F	Tyler Toffoli – C	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	(1992-04-24) 24 April 1992 (age 32)	Calgary Flames
74	D	Ethan Bear	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	(1997-06-26) 26 June 1997 (age 27)	Vancouver Canucks
77	D	Brad Hunt	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	(1988-08-24) 24 August 1988 (age 36)	Colorado Avalanche
79	F	Samuel Blais	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	(1996-06-17) 17 June 1996 (age 28)	St. Louis Blues
90	F	Joe Veleno	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	(2000-01-13) 13 January 2000 (age 24)	Detroit Red Wings
91	F	Adam Fantilli	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	(2004-10-12) 12 October 2004 (age 20)	Michigan Wolverines

Select team roster

Roster for the 2023 Spengler Cup.

Head coach: Bruce Boudreau

No.	Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Birthdate	Team
1	G	Thomas Milic	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	81 kg (179 lb)	(2003-04-14) 14 April 2003 (age 21)	Norfolk Admirals
3	D	Dillon Heatherington	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	(1995-05-09) 9 May 1995 (age 29)	Belleville Senators
4	F	Jonathan Hazen	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(1990-06-18) 18 June 1990 (age 34)	HC Ajoie
8	D	Jordie Benn – C	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	(1987-07-26) 26 July 1987 (age 37)	Brynäs IF
9	F	Michael Joly	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)	79 kg (174 lb)	(1995-05-05) 5 May 1995 (age 29)	HC Lugano
13	F	Massimo Rizzo	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)	79 kg (174 lb)	(2001-06-13) 13 June 2001 (age 23)	University of Denver
16	D	Joey LaLeggia	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1992-06-24) 24 June 1992 (age 32)	HC Lugano
19	F	Corban Knight	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(1990-09-10) 10 September 1990 (age 34)	SC Bern
21	F	Jonathan Ang	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)	75 kg (165 lb)	(1998-01-31) 31 January 1998 (age 26)	EHC Kloten
24	D	Ty Smith	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)	81 kg (179 lb)	(2000-03-24) 24 March 2000 (age 24)	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
26	D	Thomas Schemitsch	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	(1996-10-26) 26 October 1996 (age 28)	Unattached
27	F	Derek Grant – A	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	(1990-04-20) 20 April 1990 (age 34)	ZSC Lions
28	D	Nathan Beaulieu – A	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(1992-12-05) 5 December 1992 (age 31)	EHC Kloten
30	G	Aaron Dell	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(1989-05-04) 4 May 1989 (age 35)	Unattached
34	G	Tyler Beskorowany	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	96 kg (212 lb)	(1990-04-28) 28 April 1990 (age 34)	Belfast Giants
37	D	Zac Leslie	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)	77 kg (170 lb)	(1994-01-31) 31 January 1994 (age 30)	SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers
38	F	Guillaume Asselin	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	(1992-09-09) 9 September 1992 (age 32)	HC Ajoie
71	F	John Quenneville	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	(1996-04-16) 16 April 1996 (age 28)	HC Lugano
74	D	Nicolas Beaudin	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)	76 kg (168 lb)	(1999-10-07) 7 October 1999 (age 25)	Laval Rocket
77	F	Colton Sceviour	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(1989-04-20) 20 April 1989 (age 35)	SC Bern
85	D	Éric Gélinas	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	(1991-05-08) 8 May 1991 (age 33)	HC Ajoie
86	F	Josh Jooris – A	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	(1990-07-14) 14 July 1990 (age 34)	Genève-Servette HC
88	F	Chris DiDomenico – A	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)	83 kg (183 lb)	(1989-02-20) 20 February 1989 (age 35)	HC Fribourg-Gottéron
91	F	Tyler Morley	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)	81 kg (179 lb)	(1991-12-19) 19 December 1991 (age 32)	EHC Kloten
96	F	Daniel Audette	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	75 kg (165 lb)	(1996-05-06) 6 May 1996 (age 28)	HC Ajoie

Coaches

List of coaches of the Canada men's national ice hockey team.

Olympics

Summit Series, Canada Cup, World Cup

World Championships

Uniform evolution

• National team jerseys
• 

  1988 Olympic jerseys

• 

  1994 Olympic jerseys

• 

  1998 Olympic jerseys

• 

  1998 IIHF jerseys

• 

  1999–2001 IIHF jerseys

• 

  2008–2014, 2016 IIHF jerseys

• 

  2014 Olympic jerseys

• 

  IIHF jerseys 2014, 2016

• 

  Centennial IIHF jerseys 2015

• 

  2016 WCH jerseys

• 

  2017–present (with modifications) IIHF jerseys

• 

  2018 Olympic jerseys

• 

  IIHF jerseys 2018

• 

  IIHF jerseys 2021

• 

  2022 Olympic jerseys

• 

  IIHF jerseys 2022

• 

  IIHF jerseys 2023

Notable jerseys

• Team Canada
• 

  1928 Olympic jerseys

• 

  1936 Olympic jerseys

• 

  1964–1969 Olympic and IIHF jerseys

• 

  1980 Olympic jerseys

• 

  2002–2006 Olympic alternate jerseys

• 

  2007 IIHF jerseys

• 

  2010 IIHF alternate jerseys

See also

In Spanish: Selección de hockey sobre hielo de Canadá para niños

• List of Canadian national ice hockey team rosters
• List of Olympic men's ice hockey players for Canada