\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s one person in the world who would say no to their country,\u201d Schaefer said. \u201cEspecially Canada. We got a great country, a great hockey country. If you get the opportunity, everyone would love to do that and it would be such an honor. Great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schaefer and Bo Horvat alike will be waiting for calls from Team Canada management Wednesday morning, with Hockey Canada set to announce its Olympic roster at a press conference in Minneapolis, where World Juniors are currently being held, at noon.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/new-york-islanders-defenseman-matthew-117968422.jpg\")
Matthew Schaefer looks to pass during the Islanders\u2019 road loss to the Blue Jackets on Dec. 28, 2025. Imagn Images<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously focused on the task at hand tonight and everything, but it\u2019s always in the back of your mind,\u201d Horvat said. \u201cObviously you want to be on that team and representing your country. I feel like I\u2019ve given myself every opportunity, every chance to try and solidify and make their decision hard and give myself a chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever happens, happens. I\u2019m just gonna be proud to be Canadian either way. If I get to be there, it\u2019d be a dream come true. At the same time, there\u2019s so many great hockey players in this country that we\u2019re gonna have a great team no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n
Horvat appears to be in decent shape to make the roster, likely on a role that will see him play fourth line and penalty-killing minutes, or perhaps be the extra forward. <\/p>\n
Whether Schaefer makes it will come down to whether Canada wants to keep its same eight defensemen from the 4 Nations Face-Off or bump one off. <\/p>\n
If either of them aren\u2019t named to the initial roster, there\u2019s a good chance they will be on call as a potential injury fill-in.<\/p>\n
Schaefer would not be the only 18-year-old to ever play for Team Canada at the Olympics \u2014 Kirk Muller (1984), J.J. Daigneault (1984) and Eric Lindros (1992) have done so \u2014 but he would be the youngest ever Canadian to represent the country at a best-on-best Olympic tournament. <\/p>\n
That title is currently held by Drew Doughty, who was 20 at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
![\"Bo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/bo-horvat-14-new-york-117176167.jpg\")
Bo Horvat skates during the Islanders\u2019 home win over the Ducks on Dec. 11, 2025. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I get a call, great. If not, I\u2019m just playing with the Islanders and I\u2019m just focusing on this,\u201d Schaefer said. \u201c\u2026 There\u2019s a lot of great Canadian defensemen and a lot who are in the NHL. I\u2019m just gonna play my game and just worry about what we got going on there.\u201d<\/p>\n
All federations need to submit their rosters Wednesday, but the U.S., Sweden and Finland are waiting until Jan. 2 to formally announce their rosters. <\/p>\n
As it relates to the Islanders, that means Emil Heineman and Simon Holmstrom, who are both in the Team Sweden mix, will learn their fates soon as well.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the ice from Long Island\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Swedish assistant general manager Josef Boumedienne met with all three of the Islanders\u2019 Swedes \u2014 Heineman, Holmstrom and Adam Boqvist \u2014 earlier in the season when he was in New York. Heineman, who has excelled in a top six role with the Islanders, has put himself firmly into the conversation for Tre Kronor whereas Holmstrom\u2019s potential inclusion likely comes down to whether Sweden feels the need for another penalty killer and defensive presence.<\/p>\n
\u201cDreaming of it,\u201d Heineman said. \u201cIt would be fun. Like any kid that dreams of playing in the Olympics, I still do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 This time last year, Matthew Schaefer was representing Team Canada on home soil at the World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[20024,16790,9,11,6821,10,539,319,23717],"class_list":{"0":"post-85244","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-bo-horvat","9":"tag-matthew-schaefer","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-islanders","13":"tag-new-york-news","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-winter-olympics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}