Jurco to play in second Olympic Games

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At least one former Saint John Sea Dog will take part in the upcoming Beijing 2022 Olympic Games.

Former Sea Dogs forward Tomas Jurco has been named to Slovakia's Olympic roster for a second time. From the IIHF website:

The forward line also features Tomas Jurco, who left the NHL in the summer after seven seasons with Detroit, Chicago, Edmonton and Vegas. He’s now with Barys Nur-Sultan in the KHL and is in line for a second Olympic appearance after representing Slovakia in Sochi in 2014. The 29-year-old winger also has World Championship experience but missed the chance to play on home ice in 2019 as he was winning his second Calder Cup at the time.

Jurco recorded a goal in four games with Slovakia at Sochi 2014.

This season, Jurco has three goals and 11 points 17 games in the KHL. He appeared in eight NHL games last season with the Vegas Golden Knights and spent much of the year in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights.

Jurco was part of the Glory Days Era of Sea Dogs hockey that reached three straight President Cup finals and back-to-back Memorial Cup tournaments between 2010 and 2012. He registered 87 goals and 175 points in 172 career regular season QMJHL games. He added 26 goals and 64 points in 56 playoff games.

Saint John's other import during that championship span, Russian forward Stanislav Galiev, could also be heading to Beijing. Galiev was recently named to Russia's Olympic Games training camp roster.

We can now reveal the list of players who will participate in the senior Russian national team's training camp ahead of the upcoming 2022 Olympic Games.

Not long to go until the competition in China begins! Read: https://t.co/BhUzc7hJWI #RussiaHockey pic.twitter.com/3UDDzYtZY5

— Russia Hockey (@russiahockey_en) January 17, 2022

The 30-year-old Galiev is having another strong season in the KHL, recording 25 goals and 42 points in 47 games with Dynamo Moscow.

Slovakia will play in Group C in Beijing with Finland, Sweden and Latvia. Russia will play in Group B with the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Denmark. The men's hockey tournament takes place Feb. 9-20.

At the PyeongChang 2018 Games, former Sea Dogs Felix Schutz represented Germany and Jurij Repe played for Slovenia.