Several NHL teammates set to battle for Olympic gold in Sochi
As the 2014 men's Olympic hockey tournament field enters the bronze and gold medal match stage, the presence of NHL players begins to take on greater meaning.
For those who will end up winning gold, it will afford them the opportunity to bring bragging rights back to the NHL, with silver medalists literally sitting beside or across from them in the locker room.
Here's a look at the seven NHL teams that feature players on both sides of the battle for gold in Sochi on Sunday.
| Canada | NHL Teams | Sweden |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Getzlaf | Anaheim Ducks | Jakob Silfverberg |
| Corey Perry | ||
| Patrice Bergeron | Boston Bruins | Loui Eriksson |
| Jonathan Toews | Chicago Blackhawks | Marcus Kruger |
| Patrick Sharp | Johnny Oduya | |
| Duncan Keith | Niklas Hjalmarsson | |
| Matt Duchene | Colorado Avalanche | Gabrial Landeskog |
| Rick Nash | New York Rangers | Henrik Lundqvist |
| Carl Hagelin | ||
| Alex Pietrangelo | St. Louis Blues | Alexander Steen |
| Jay Bouwmeester | Patrik Berglund | |
| Roberto Luongo | Vancouver Canucks | Daniel Sedin |
| Dan Hamhuis | Alexander Edler |
At least one young Canadian has already considered the dynamic in the locker room once back in North America. Matt Duchene, referring to Colorado captain and Swedish forward Gabriel Landeskog, told the Denver Post "We've talked a few times during the Olympics. I've seen him at the cafe. And we chatted. But I'm not talking to him now until after the gold medal game. He has rubbed the fact Sweden won the world championship last year in my face. And I'd like to give that back to him. Absolutely."
Sweden knocked Canada out of the 2013 World Championships in the quarterfinals, giving Duchene extra incentive to stick it to his Colorado teammate.
Depending on how things go down on Sunday, fans in one of these NHL cities may be treated to another post-Olympic video like this.