Close to 3,000 athletes from 91 different delegations are in Beijing, competing for 109 gold medals. While there are a number of Jewish athletes representing different countries and on different teams, the most Jewish team in the 2022 Winter Olympics, other than teams representing Israel, is the Canadian men’s ice hockey team. Their roster has three Jews on it: Josh Ho-Sang, Devon Levi, and Jason Demers.

Josh Ho-Sang is currently a right winger for the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Toronto Marlies. The Marlies are the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Toronto Maple Leafs minor league affiliate team. He was drafted to the NHL in 2014 in the first round by the New York Islanders. This season, over the span of 27 games, Ho-Sang has put up a strong 20 points (11 goals, 9 assists). Although he put up decent points while playing in the NHL with the Islanders for a couple seasons, he never played more than 22 games in a season. If he capitalizes on the opportunity in Beijing, it could help Ho-Sang to jump start a stable NHL career with the Maple Leafs.

Josh Ho-Sang has Russian and Jewish lineage from his mother’s side. He has previously addressed his Jewish heritage, saying, “I’ve grown up Jewish, I have always celebrated the Jewish holidays like Hanukkah and the High Holidays with family and friends.”

The second Jewish ice hockey player representing Canada is Devon Levi. Levi attended a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school in Montreal called the Hebrew Foundation School. In 2020, Levi was drafted by the NHL’s Florida Panthers in the seventh round. The 20-year-old goalie currently plays for Northeastern University in Boston. Being on the Olympic team makes Levi the University’s first to play men’s ice hockey at the Olympics. Levi is in the middle of a sensational season in Boston. He has started and played every game, notching an impressive 9 shutouts out of 22 games played. In the last 10 games, Levi has a .956 save percentage, only letting in 12 goals on 259 shots faced. For the 24 games he has played, he has posted 1.55 goals against.

Levi also had the chance to represent Canada at the 2021 World Junior Championships. Playing for Team Canada, Levi posted incredible stats: winning six of seven games, posting a .75 goals against, and recording a .964 save percentage. Although he made the Olympic team, Levi may not be the starter, since the other two goalies on the team, Edward Pasquale and Matt Tomkins, are both older and have more experience. However, no matter how much playing time he gets, Devon Levi is a Jewish Olympic athlete with a bright hockey future ahead of him.

Jason Demers is the third ice hockey player on Team Canada to have Jewish affiliations. Unlike Ho-Sang and Levi, Demers learned of his Jewish heritage later in life. When he found out, he said that, “it all came as a little bit of a surprise, but we welcomed it. I am curious about every religion because it is a different way of looking at the world. Obviously having this new-found heritage makes me curious.”

Demers is 33 years old, and is currently playing in Russia’s Kontinental League (KHL). He made his NHL debut in 2009 with the San Jose Sharks. After 13 seasons in the NHL, playing on four different teams, Demers is an NHL veteran. He has played in 699 games and has recorded 214 points (45 goals, 169 assists).

In December, the NHL announced that they would not let players participate in the Winter Olympics. Instead, they planned to use the Olympic break as a time to make up for games that had been canceled due to Covid-19. Therefore, Olympic committees turned to younger and less experienced players, like Josh Ho-Sang, giving them an incredible opportunity. Canada also has a plethora of experienced, retired NHL stars who are representing them at the games, like five-time All Star and 2010 Olympic gold medalist Eric Staal. Out of Canada’s 25 person roster, 17 have prior NHL experience.

Canada’s Olympic ice hockey teams have won 15 medals in the past 22 Winter Olympics that they have participated in over the past century. Nine out of those fifteen medals were gold. In Vancouver and Sochi, 2010 and 2014, Canada won gold for men’s ice hockey, and in PyeongChang in 2018, Canada walked away with bronze. Canada’s ice hockey teams have historically been strong, and this year they attempt to reclaim the gold. With a mix of experienced players and young energetic players with something to prove, Canada will be a tough opponent for others to play against. Their first game is on February 10th versus Germany in the preliminary round. Canada is also set to face the United States and China in the preliminary rounds, before advancing to qualifications on February 15th.