Canada finished with a 1-2 record after losing 2-0 to Russia at the 2017 Channel One Cup — the former Izvestia tournament — Saturday in Moscow.
Former NHLer Teddy Purcell of St. John’s is part of the Canadian team.
With the NHL pulling its players from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Hockey Canada is using a series of European tournaments to select its roster for the Olympics.
Virtually all of the players who will wear the maple leaf in Pyeongchang will come from the various European pro leagues.
Purcell, a 32-year-old forward, with eight years of full-time NHL experience, plays for Avangard Omsk of the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League.
Canada played in the 2017 Karjala Cup in Finland last month, and will now play in the Spengler Cup, which opens Boxing Day in Davos, Switz.
The Spengler Cup is the final event in which Hockey Canada will use to identify players for the Olympic team.
Purcell only dressed for one of Canada’s three games, a 4-1 loss to the Czech Republic Friday. He sat out the Russian game, and a 4-2 win over the South Koreans last Wednesday.
