During the 2014 Winter Classic, USA Hockey announced the 2014 U.S. Olympic Men’s and Women’s Ice hockey rosters including several Minnesota natives.  Eight Minnesotans starting with 2010 Olympians David Backes and Zach Parise were named to the Men’s team while three were announced as a part of the Women’s roster.

Backes and Parise have been widely considered locks to make the team, despite recent battles with injuries.  This fall U.S. General Manager David Poile included them in the five player leadership group, along with the Minnesota Wild’s Ryan Suter, Dustin Brown and Ryan Callahan, which will likely generate Team USA’s captains and alternate captains.

Other players set to represent Minnesota in Sochi include forwards T.J. Oshie (Warroad), Blake Wheeler (Robbinsdale) and Derek Stepan (Hastings). Three of the team’s eight defensemen will hail from Minnesota as Paul Martin (Elk River), Ryan McDonagh (Mounds View) and Justin Faulk (South St. Paul) were selected as well.

For the U.S. Women’s team, Gigi Marvin (Warroad) is the only returning Minnesotan, signifying a passing of the torch from Olympic mainstays like Natalie Darwitz and Jenny Potter. The other Minnesota natives selected were Anne Schleper (St. Cloud) and Lee Stecklein (Roseville), the youngest player on either roster at 19 years old. All three Minnesota natives attended the University of Minnesota and will play defense for Team USA.

A total of eight states are represented on the U.S. Men’s roster with Minnesota having the most and New York coming in second with five players.  The U.S. Women’s team was a little more diverse in background with players coming from ten different states. Massachusetts had the most with five players while Minnesota tied for second most with Wisconsin with three each.