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Kopitar, Chara, Hossa lead Team Europe's initial World Cup roster

Josh Cooper
NHL
NHL

The first mixed nationality roster of the World Cup of Hockey was revealed Wednesday with the announcement of the first 16 players for Team Europe.

This group is made up of European players who aren’t from the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, or Sweden.

Since a lot of these players haven’t played together in international competitions, Team Europe is sort of a wild card with players from Switzerland, Slovakia, Norway, Slovenia, Germany, Austria and Denmark.

Goalies

Frederik Andersen, Anaheim Ducks (Denmark)
Jaroslav Halak, New York Islanders (Slovakia)

Defensemen

Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins (Slovakia)
Roman Josi, Nashville Predators (Switzerland)
Dennis Seidenberg, Boston Bruins (Germany)
Andrej Sekera, Edmonton Oilers (Slovakia)
Mark Streit, Philadelphia Flyers (Switzerland)

Forwards

Mikkel Boedker, Colorado Avalanche (Denmark)
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers (Germany)
Jannik Hansen, Vancouver Canucks (Denmark)
Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks (Slovakia)
Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings (Slovenia)
Frans Nielsen, New York Islanders (Denmark)
Tomas Tatar, Detroit Red Wings (Slovakia)
Thomas Vanek, Minnesota Wild (Austria)
Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers (Norway)

The final seven players must be announced by June 1.

Here's the Team Europe jersey:

• Goaltending is likely to be the strongest part of this roster. Frederik Andersen was playoff tested last season and has a 2.26 goal-against average and .920 save percentage this season. Jaroslav Halak has put up some big playoff numbers in his career, pushing the 2009-10 Montreal Canadiens to the Eastern Conference Final. Regardless of how Team Europe fills out their roster in goal, they can’t go wrong with choosing Halak or Andersen.

• Defense is probably Team Europe’s weakest link. Zdeno Chara will be 39 at the start of this tournament, and Mark Streit will be 38 years old. Both have been solid this year, but after another season you have to wonder how much is left in the tank for them. General manager Miroslav Satan probably didn’t have much left to choose from. Satan believed the team needed "experienced defensemen" for the "short tournament" and tried to downplay the age of Chara and Streit. Other possibilities for June 1 have been listed as Christian Ehrhoff of the Chicago Blackhawks and Yannick Weber of the Vancouver Canucks. Nashville’s Roman Josi will be counted on to play big minutes and lead this group against the top players from other countries.

• Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl started the year playing in the American Hockey League with the Bakersfield Condors. But after he was called up to the NHL, he played his way onto this team with 44 points in 55 games. This tournament could be a major confidence boost and coming out party for the 20-year-old Draisaitl, who ha been compared to Team Europe teammate Anze Kopitar.

• Kopitar is probably this group’s best player. The big Slovenian is a two-time Selke Trophy finalist and a two-time Stanley Cup champion. He’ll probably get a lot of ice-time in this tournament.

• There are no KHL players on the roster. Satan was asked about this, and said, "We are going to try to take NHL players." He added he's watching "two guys" from the KHL, but his priority was to take players in the NHL first.

Previously released 16-man rosters:

Team Russia

Team Finland

Team Czech Republic

Team Sweden

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!