The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are a couple of months away. Somehow, every other year, an Olympic games manages to just creeps up on us.
There’s no ice hockey at the Summer Olympics, but some Tampa Bay Lightning players could easily qualify for a few events. Here are a few examples.
Victor Hedman – Soccer
In an alternate reality, Lightning star defenseman Victor Hedman would be battling for the World Cup instead of the Stanley Cup. He’s already a part-owner of Plymouth Argyle F.C., showing his passion for the world’s most popular sport (from ‘How Lightning’s Victor Hedman became part-owner of a League One soccer club,’ The Athletic, Aug 17, 2022).
In a 2022 article in The Athletic, Hedman joked he knows more about soccer than hockey. He’s won a Norris Trophy and a Conn Smythe Award, so that’s saying something. Unfortunately for Hedman, his home country, Sweden, did not qualify for the Olympics in 2024. Sweden is usually absent on the Olympic men’s soccer front. They haven’t made many appearances since World War II. Maybe with an extra defender like Hedman, they can return in 2028.
Yes, Olympic soccer is a U23 tournament. But, according to NBC, each team is allowed three exceptions. Hedman could be one of those.
Steven Stamkos – Baseball
He’s not a free agent until after the Stanley Cup Final, so he’s on the list.
The Olympics have eluded baseball lately just as it has eluded Steven Stamkos. While America’s national pastime is no longer an official Olympic sport, it returned for the 2020 Tokyo Games and will be back again for the Los Angeles Games in 2028. So, Stamkos has a shot to make the team.
Related: MacKinnon, Matthews & Kucherov Named Ted Lindsay Award Finalists
Baseball is the perfect sport for Stamkos because he’s a huge fan and has played the sport. He showed off his skills at the plate when he took batting practice ahead of a Tampa Bay Rays game in 2015. He also took BP and fielded grounders with the Toronto Blue Jays later that season.
I think it’s safe to assume Stamkos would make a solid contact hitter at the top of the order and could play shortstop. He played the position relatively cleanly – based on that throw to first base in Toronto, he just needs to regain control of that arm strength.
Tanner Jeannot – Boxing
He’d have to keep his gloves on – bare-knuckle fighting is prohibited – but Tanner Jeannot is equipped to take home the gold for Team Canada in Olympic boxing. With 211 hits and 75 penalty minutes in just 55 games, Jeannot made it known that he’s got some fight in him.
According to Canada’s Olympic webpage, the country has not had a boxer win gold since the legendary Lennox Lewis took one home in Seoul in 1988, and no Canadian has medaled since the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Jeannot could be that championship figure who brings Olympic boxing glory back to Canada.
Nikita Kucherov – Archery
Since sniping is not an Olympic shooting event, we’re choosing archery for Nikita Kucherov. Hockey players love to shoot the bow and arrow after a goal. Does Kucherov personally do the bow and arrow celebration after he scores? No. However, he still possesses the skills to do so.
In his hunt to win another Hart Trophy, Kucherov showed he has an elite level of accuracy and precision – the same skills required to excel in archery. He nails his targets, whether it’s a shot on goal or completing the perfect pass. Throw in his discipline on the ice and we have ourselves a bonified archer heading to the Summer Olympics.