OTTAWA -- Team Canada general manager Bob Clarke announced on Saturday night the 23-player roster for Canada's Olympic Men's Hockey Team that will compete at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan from Feb. 13-22.

The Nagano Games represents the first time all countries have been able to send their best professionals to compete for Olympic gold and promises to be the most exciting hockey tournament ever held. Canadian Hockey marked the historic occasion by announcing the men's roster live on national TV before the National Hockey League game between the Ottawa Senators and the Chicago Blackhawks.

"This is a tremendously proud moment not just for Canadian Hockey, but for all Canadians," said Canadian Hockey president Murray Costello. "We wanted to share the announcement of the Olympic hockey team with the Canadian public and certainly hope all Canadians will support our team in Nagano."

Canadian Hockey chairman Bob MacKinnon said: "It has been 46 years since the Edmonton Mercurys won Canada's last gold medal at the men's Olympic hockey tournament, so I know what the '98 Games means to our country. It's exciting to be part of the announcement of this team and it will be an extraordinary experience to watch them compete in Nagano."

Paul Kariya of Vancouver, BC, a silver medalist at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway , Wayne Gretzky of Brantford, ON, whom many consider the greatest player in the history of the sport, and goaltender Patrick Roy of Quebec City are among the players selected to the Olympic team roster..

Clarke and Team Canada assistant GMs Pierre Gauthier of Montreal and Bob Gainey of Peterborough, ON, assembled the roster, after considering a lengthy list of candidates and consulting with head coach Marc Crawford of Belleville, ON, associate coach Andy Murray of Souris, MB and assistants Wayne Cashman of Kingston, ON and Mike Johnston of Dartmouth, NS.

"Selecting a roster for any Canadian international team always is difficult because our talent pool is so deep," said Clarke, of Flin Flon, MB. "Obviously, there were many talented, dedicated players who wanted to be part of this team and were not chosen.

"We believe we have selected a team that is strong and talented at all positions and will compete hard to win a gold medal in Nagano."

Joining Roy in goal for Canada will be Martin Brodeur of Montreal, whose father, Denis Brodeur, played for Canada in the 1956 games, and Curtis Joseph of Keswick, ON. The defencemen include Raymond Bourque of Montreal, Al MacInnis of Inverness, NS, Scott Stevens of Kitchener, ON, Chris Pronger of Dryden, ON, Eric Desjardins of Rouyn-Noranda, QC, Rob Blake of Simcoe, ON, and Adam Foote of Toronto.

Centre Eric Lindros of London, ON, who earned a silver medal for Canada at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, is the other Olympic medalist on the Canadian roster The other forwards selected include: Rob Zamuner of Oakville, ON, Theoren Fleury of Russell, MB, Trevor Linden of Medicine Hat, AB, Rod Brind'Amour of Campbell River, BC, Steve Yzerman of Nepean, ON,, Joe Sakic of Burnaby, BC, Joe Nieuwendyk of Oshawa, ON, Shayne Corson of Barrie, ON, Keith Primeau of Toronto, ON, and Brendan Shanahan of Mimico, ON.

The players will assemble in Vancouver on Feb. 8 and fly to Japan where they will have two days of practice before playing their opening game in the Olympic tournament on Feb. 13 against the team which finishes first in the preliminary round of the tournament from a group of countries that includes Slovakia, Austria, Italy and Kazakhstan.

Canada will also play final round games against Sweden and the United States before the playoff round begins on Feb. 18. The gold-medal game will be held on Feb. 22.

1998Canadian Men's Olympic Hockey Team

Nagano, Japan - February 7 -