Dates set for announcements of men’s Olympic hockey rosters

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Circle the dates on your calendars. The International Ice Hockey Federation today announced the dates that teams participating in the Vancouver Olympics will announce their 23-man rosters.

In alphabetical order, the list is:

Belarus: Dec. 23
Canada: Dec. 31
Czech Republic: Dec. 30
Finland: Dec. 30
Germany: Dec. 30
Latvia: Dec. 29
Norway: Dec. 29
Russia: Dec. 25
Switzerland: Dec. 30
Slovakia: Dec. 29
Sweden: Dec. 27
U.S.: Jan. 1 (during NHL Winter Classic)

Each team can name 20 skaters plus three goaltenders. There will be no taxi squads. The last day to change the roster will be Feb. 15, when members of the directorate -- the mucky-mucks in charge of the tournament -- will meet on the eve of the first men’s game.

Here’s the men’s Olympic schedule.

In honor of today being the 100-days-out point before the Games, the IIHF unveiled a new hockey page on its website with links to Olympic hockey rules, trivia and other information.

-- Helene Elliott