For most of the planet, the Winter Olympics are a special time when the nations of the world come together in the pursuit of athletic excellence. For hockey fans, it’s a nail-biting two weeks when your favorite players head off to foreign lands filled with concussions, broken femurs, and potentially career-ending high sticks never to return again. So which teams’ Stanley Cup dreams are most at risk in Sochi? The red-hot Chicago Blackhawks are throwing 10 key players to the wolves, while both Buffalo and Detroit are rolling the dice on their farm team depth by allowing both of their goalies to travel overseas. Here’s a look at the other franchises sending a ton of players overseas (we’ve left off the teams that are only sending three or less players-so, sorry, Toronto and Nashville) to play for the honor of the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Finland, and, um, Slovenia (stick tap, Anze) even if it means trading a ring for a medal.
