Tampa Bay Lightning forward Valtteri Filppula has been selected to represent his native Finland in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey later this year in Toronto.
The 2014 Winter Olympic Games were an exciting time, not only for those of us here in the Bolts Nation but all around the National Hockey League. We got to sit back and watch as some of our favorite Tampa Bay Lightning players took the ice alongside some of the best players in the league as they battled to bring home the gold for their respective countries. Unfortunately, the Winter Olympics only comes around every four years.
The good news is, there is still plenty of international hockey action happening outside of the Olympics. Starting on September 17, 2016, players will start making their way to the Air Canada Centre – Home of the Toronto Maple Leafs – to take part in a tournament known as the World Cup of Hockey.
As you can imagine, the countries participating in this event have already started putting together their rosters for the big, international tournament. There is, at least, one player who will be making their way to Toronto later this year to participate in the tournament. According to NHL.com, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Valtteri Filppula has been named to the official Team Finland roster for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Valtteri Filppula brings quite a bit of veteran experience to the Team Finland roster. Filppula has been in the National Hockey League for 10 seasons. In those 10 seasons, Valtteri Filppula has had the honor of raising the Stanley Cup high above his head as a member of the 2008 Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings.
So far this season, Filppula has played in all 63 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In that amount of time, the Vantaa, Finland native has scored 7 goals and 20 assists for a total of 27 points. Filppula is one of 11 Tampa Bay Lightning players to have broken the 20 point threshold this season.
Valtteri Filppula is joined by quite a bit of top-tier talent at this year’s World Cup of Hockey. Here is a list of the players who will be joining Filppula on his journey to Toronto for the World Cup of Hockey, courtesy of NHL.com.
Finland has a good track record of putting together winning teams. Team Finland brought home the Bronze Medal in both the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, a team in which Valtteri Filppula was a part of, and once again at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
It will be interesting to see how things play out as Team Finland comes together once again to take on the other countries for the distinction of being the best in the world.
Next: Nikita Kucherov Leads 3 Players To Team Russia
What do you think of Team Finland’s roster? Who was the biggest surprise addition? Who do you think may have been omitted that should have made the cut? Let us know what you think in the comments below.