Moose D-man denied Olympic dream

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This article was published 29/12/2021 (1383 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Leon Gawanke has experienced an unexpected downside to being a top Winnipeg Jets prospect.

The 22-year-old Manitoba Moose defenceman is under contract with the NHL parent team and, as such, isn’t eligible to play for his native Germany at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Gawanke’s agent and the American Hockey League team confirmed Wednesday the 2017 fifth-round draft pick can’t participate in the Beijing Games, although the news hadn’t filtered down to the Berlin product who admitted competing in the Olympics has been “a childhood dream.”

Instead, he’ll stick with the Moose — one of the top squads in the AHL’s Western Conference — while some of his German-born friends and former teammates and opponents lace up for the national team in February.

“Honestly, I haven’t had the official word, yet. Obviously, it’s pretty sad that NHL players can’t go,” Gawanke said, following Manitoba’s first practice after the Christmas break. “I don’t really have any information, yet. I’m kind of in the dark, too.”

Three days before Christmas, the NHL and NHL players union came to an agreement that NHL players would not participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics. The decision was made as a result of increasing COVID-19 cases and a rising number of postponed games, disrupting the 2021-22 regular season.

Gawanke would have been a virtual lock to play and clearly wanted to represent his country.

“I’ve watched the Olympics since I was a little kid, the Summer and Winter Olympics. It’s a really huge thing. It’s one of the biggest sports events in the world. To be able to go there an achieve that, just putting the jersey on and going on the ice with the best players in the world, would obviously be a childhood dream,” said Gawanke, who is in the last year of a three-year entry-level deal with the Jets and will be a restricted free agent in the summer.

It’s the second consecutive Olympic tournament NHL players will miss. In 2018, the league skipped the tournament in Pyeongchang for financial reasons, including insurance coverage and a lack of revenue and branding concessions from the International Olympic Committee. Germany had a tremendous run that year, collecting the silver medal after falling 4-3 to Russian athletes in the final.

NHL stars played in the Olympics from 1998 to 2014. Team Canada won gold in 2002 in Salt Lake City, 2010 in Vancouver and 2014 in Sochi.

Gawanke said he vividly recalls being roused in the wee hours of the morning to watch as Sidney Crosby fired ‘the golden goal” through the legs of U.S. goalie Ryan Miller in overtime.

“I went to bed because in Germany it was really late at that time and my mom woke me up when the game started. I fell back asleep and then she woke me up again for overtime,” he said, laughing. “I started watching and, yeah, that goal. Not many words for that. I think it’s just history there.”

Gawanke has been an offensive driver for the Moose (15-9-1), who are three points back of the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves. He has four goals and 12 assists in 25 games.

Manitoba head coach Mark Morrison has liked everything about the right-side blue-liner’s game.

“He and (Declan) have played really well together. They read each other real well and that’s helped them individually with their own games,” said Morrison. “Offensively, (Gawanke) jumps into the play really well, he sees the ice really well, shoots the puck. Offensively, he brings a lot to our team and, defensively, I think he’s getting better all the time. He skates well, smart, makes plays.”

Manitoba lost its final two games before an extended break — four games were postponed, including a back-to-back with the Abbotsford Canucks Thursday and New Year’s Eve — is looking to rebound when the club resumes play at home Jan. 2 and 4 against the visiting Iowa Wild.

Gawanke said he expects more from himself in the second half of the season.

“I’ve developed over the years but there’s still parts of my game I’m not happy with and that I have to keep working on, and that I wish would have gone a little better,” he said. “I’m pretty confident about my offensive game right now. I think it’s the part away from the ice and on the defensive side, I need to get stronger, get in even better condition. I need to keep working on my defensive game so I can make it to the next level one day.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell