Canucks’ Garland named to US Olympics Orientation Camp roster; Demko left off
On Tuesday morning, Team USA introduced 44 players who will attend the US Men’s Olympic Orientation Camp for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. There is a notable Vancouver Canuck on the list, and a noteworthy teammate left off the list.
Of course, Canucks fans already knew Captain Quinn Hughes would be on the team after he was announced as one of the six players that would be on the roster earlier in the summer. But he will be joined at orientation camp by teammate Conor Garland, while goaltender Thatcher Demko did not receive an invite.
Garland, 29, earns an invitation after a stellar World Championships in late Spring. The 5’10” winger represented his country at the 2025 IIHF World Championships in Sweden/Denmark. Garland played in a top-line role with former Arizona Coyote teammate Clayton Keller, where he finished the tournament as a point-per-game scorer, tallying five goals and five assists for 10 points in as many games.
The Scituate, Massachusetts native’s performance against Germany (two goals and two assists) earned him Player of the Game honours. Garland’s contributions along the way helped Team USA bring home their first Gold Medal since 1993, when Tage Thompson ripped home the Golden Goal in a 1-0 overtime victory over Switzerland.
His efforts in the World Championships, coupled with his steady 50-point 2024-2025 campaign, are what earned him an invitation to orientation camp.
Demko, 29, was passed over by the selection committee for the three goaltenders who were on Team USA’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-off, as well as Seattle Kraken netminder Joey Daccord. It came as no surprise that Demko was left off the 4 Nations roster, as he had still not returned to NHL action by the time rosters were announced.
The Canucks netminder would make his season debut in mid-December, but struggled to stay on the ice. Demko suffered a handful of other ailments that restricted his season to just 23 starts. He finished with a 10-8-3 record, a 2.90 goals against average and a .889 save percentage, with one shutout.. However, when Demko is at the top of his game, he’s a Vezina candidate, as he displayed in 2023-2024. Demko finished that season with a 35-14-2 record, a 2.45 goals against average and a .918 save percentage with five shutouts.
Another American Canuck left off the list was Brock Boeser. He is coming off a down season by his standards, finishing with 25 goals and 50 points. Despite his strong start to the season, Boeser was not named to Team USA’s 4 Nations Face-off roster and chose to forego playing in the World Championships as he was coming off an emotional end to his season and potentially heading into free agency.
The 44 players invited to orientation camp will be heading to Plymouth, Michigan, on August 26-27. Canucks fans will see Hughes and Garland there, but Demko and Boeser will be using this as fuel to have bounce-back 2025-2026 campaigns.
