Josh Ho Sang, a member of the Toronto Marlies, and potentially a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is going to the Olympics.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were expecting to send John Tavares, Morgan Rielly and Mitch Marner to the Olympics for team Canada.
Covid forced the NHL out of the Olympics, but the Toronto Maple Leafs will still have representation.
Josh Ho-Sang, who isn’t technically a member of the Leafs, but might as well be, will be joining the likes of Eric Staal and Owen Power in trying to bring the Gold home to Canada.
Toronto Maple Leafs and Josh Ho-Sang
Ho-Sang was drafted 14th overall by the New York Islanders in 2014 and although he hasn’t been able to become the NHL star many thought he would be, he remains an intriguing prospect, although a slightly overaged one.
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Ho-Sang to a PTO this summer, and although he wasn’t able to crack the NHL’s deepest roster, he did enough to stick around and has had a successful season thus far with the Marlies.
Ho-Sang has 11 goals and nine assists in 29 games for the Marlies, who are 18-12-2 and currently sit third in their division.
As of yet, he hasn’t figured into the Leafs plans, but we’ve been waiting all season to hear the news that he has signed an NHL contract and will join the big club.
We will have to wait a little longer, as Ho-Sang will play for the revised Team Canada this February.
In normal circumstances, Team Canada would be a heavy favorite to win the gold, but I currently have no idea what kind of rosters the other teams are submitting. I do know that the Russians will be entering a team of exclusively KHL players, and so will likely cruise to their second straight fraudulent gold medal.
I mean, winning Gold is Great, but the Russian’s last Gold, and the one they’ll certainly win next month, are about as meaningful as the 1992 US Men’s Gold at basketball. Sure, it was fun for all involved, but how meaningful is it really to put together a team of all-stars and watch them crush inferior competition?
Personally, it’s not for me. If team Canada was sending a group of NHL players to dust a bunch of second-raters, I wouldn’t even watch it.
The inclusion of Josh Ho-Sang at least gives me a rooting interested here (beyond wanting to see the Russians get embarrassed). I think it’s absolutely fantastic how much he’s turned his career around, and I hope that later circumstances work out so that he can score a winning goal for the Leafs in the this year’s playoffs.