Three EURO general managers paid visits to the league office in Vienna this week for meeting with Sepp Blatter and the director of discipline and player safety announced all three have been awarded teams in the upcoming World Cup tournament in Bern.

League Commissioner Chuck Massaro was unaware of Blatter’s decision but said “I trust Sepp implicitly. If he feels it’s in the league’s best interest, then he has my backing.”

Accountant Rose noted that all three GMs carried shopping bags with them into their meetings with Blatter. “It would have been nice if they would brought something for me too – even a Christmas card,” she said while cooking up some poutine for the office.

Team Canada (26 and older) will be managed by Copenhagen GM Martin Sayle; Team Russia by Minsk GM Igor Kirunov; and Team Sweden by Berlin Guybrush Threepwood.

Bern GM Paja Jansson has hired scouts for the tournament and they have written brief overviews about the first three selected teams:
CANADA

EURO’s most feared duo – John Tavares and Steven Stamkos – will play together in the World Cup as well. Cutting players will be a difficult task for Sayle. For example, which of these centers will not play? Tavares, Jonathan Toews, Claude Giroux, Jordan Staal, Matt Duchene, Logan Couture, Sidney Crosby, Patric Bergeron … and there are even more good Canadian centers to consider.

RUSSIA

Team Russia has a lot of known players in their team. But players who usually face each other during the most heated rivalries. Will Vadim Shipachyov be able to bury the hatchet against ”Damn Malkin”? The two of them might be playing together on a line with Alexander Ovechkin.

SWEDEN

Will the King start in net? Henrik Lundqvist sure took his time deciding which team he wanted to play for this season in EURO. Turning down numerous of offers before signing with the Copenhagen Tridents. He is having his best season so far but countryman, and Sweden’s future goaltender, Robin Lehner, is also having a stellar season.

Now it will be up to the managers to select:

• 1 head coach
• 4 centers
• 4 left wings
• 4 right wings
• 6 defensemen
• 3 goalies
• 2 backup forwards
• 1 backup defensemen

The other 5 teams are still up for grabs. Contact the commissioner and Paja to apply for a team. 

We encourage GM’s to select players based not only on their attributes, but also how well they are doing this season. For example, Jordan Staal should be considered for a spot on Team Canada. We will alter the stats, so they will reflect some of the success they have the current season.

*When selecting players. Following countries are NOT allowed to play a player outside their position in EURO.
Canada
USA
Sweden
Russia
North America
*a winger can play center if source is provided

As for Finland, Czech Republic and Europe, wingers can play on either LW or RW, regardless their position in EURO. A winger can be moved to center if source is provided.

This gives Russia the option to play Anisimov as center, but doesn’t give them the opportunity to change Tarasenko to center, who has great faceoff skills. Europe, Finland and Czech can maximize their top lines

If a player has dual citizenships, he belongs to the team where he has played his career. For example: Galchenyuk belongs to North America, Sherbatov to Europe/World, Zibanejad to Sweden, Bykov to Europe. If a manager has a question on a player, ask Paja, who will make the final ruling.

Websim has a lot of errors on players’ nationality, so if people are uncertain, cross check with Eliteprospects.