Ducks goaltender Damian Clara to represent his home country–Italy at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026
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The netminder only talked about it with Dan Arritt of NHL Network on July 18. He innocently told Arritt, 'I didn't even know there was a thing. I just got a call, and I was like–Okay, wow. What's that?' Clara hails from Brunico, Italy, and he's going to represent his home country at the 2026 Olympics!
How does Damian Clara feel about representing Italy in the 2026 Winter Olympics ?
'It's a big honor. Really happy to get the trust. I will do my best to go there and hopefully help the team. It's our goal, and we'll see what happens,' Clara told Arritt.
When Arritt asked him how he viewed competing in the Olympics? The netminder said, 'Just see it as a challenge. There's nothing to lose. Exciting opportunity–as I'm still in the development. And it's a great thing for Italian hockey to invite some of the best players in the world into our rink and obviously match up with our team.
'
Arritt asked him if he used his stature to intimidate the players on the rink. The 6-foot-6, 214-pounder goalie said, 'Sometimes, I open up and I play too aggressive and make life hard for myself.
That's something else I've learned–just use what's there the best way possible, and I think there's still some steps I can take to accomplish that and get more out of it.'
Six players from the NHL will compete in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games
Apart from the goggle-eyed goalie, six others will play in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026–Rasmus Dahlin(defenseman and captain for the Buffalo Sabres), Gabriel Landeskog(left winger and captain for the Colorado Avalanche), Lucas Raymond(ice hockey winger for Detroit Red Wings), Adrian Kempe(ice hockey player for the Los Angeles Kings), Victor Hedman(defenseman and captain for Tampa Bay Lightning), and William Nylander(ice hockey forward for Toronto Maple Leafs)–but they would all be representing Sweden.
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