No NHLers, No Interest as Canada Roll to Easy Win

No NHLers, No Interest as Canada Roll to Easy Win
Canada’s Rene Bourque (L) and Gilbert Brule celebrate during the Canada-Switzerland game during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, on Feb. 15, 2018. Reuters/David W Cerny
|Updated:

GANGNEUNG, South Korea—Canada opened their defence of their Olympic men’s ice hockey gold medal with a workmanlike 5-1 win over Switzerland on Thursday in a muted contest that failed to fill the Kwandong Hockey Centre.

What would have been one of the hottest tickets at any of the five previous Olympics featuring a Canadian team loaded with National Hockey League stars playing in their tournament opener was treated with disinterest as the world’s best players sat these Games out.