Former Flames forward Corban Knight relishes chance to represent Canada at the Olympics

Corban Knight's unlikely hockey journey has taken him from Okotoks to Omsk to the Olympics.

Knight and the rest of his teammates on the men's Olympic hockey team have been practicing and getting to know each other in Davos, Switzerland for the past week.

Wednesday, the team will pack up and head to Beijing for the Winter Olympics, where Canada opens Feb. 10 against Germany.

Knight played nine games with the Flames between 2013 and 2015 and says getting a chance to play for Canada and represent his country is a dream come true, even if it took a pandemic for Hockey Canada to google the Omsk area code.

"There was definitely quite a few emotions running through me when I got the call," the 31-year-old said.

"I mean it was certainly a call I'll never forget.  You know when they said that I had made the team it was a little bit of shock and just a lot of pride.  Yeah I'm super thankful."

DIDN'T EXPECT OLYMPIC CALL

Knight's NHL career lasted just 52 games.  Besides the nine games with the Flames, he also saw NHL action with the Florida Panthers and the Philadelphia Flyers.

These days, Knight plays a big role with Omsk Avangard of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Last year, he helped them win the league's Gagarin Cup. 

Corban Knight, who grew up in High River, Alta. and played for the Okotoks Oilers, helped Omsk, his KHL team win, the championship in Russia. Now the one-time Calgary Flame is thrilled to be part of Team Canada's 2022 men's hockey team.

As much as Knight wanted to represent his country at the Olympics he didn't think it was ever going to happen.

But when the NHL announced it wouldn't be sending its players because the season was disrupted as a result of increased COVID-19 cases, he says it opened the door for him and other non NHLers.

"The Olympics were such a part of my childhood so you dream about it right, just like every other Canadian kid does," he said.

"When you get to higher levels and you see just how good the Sydney Crosbys and Patrice Bergerons are you're like you know it's a pretty elite group o guys that get to compete in those tournaments."

CANADA TO RELY ON HEART

Team Canada will obviously miss the star power of players like Crosby at the Olympics.  In a short tournament like this, Knight says the Canadians will have to rely on other things if they want to come away with a medal.

"It's not going to be the highest skilled team that wins right?  You need to be able to come together as a team and play for the team rather than just yourself," Knight said.

"I just think all the guy are really excited about the team they've brought together.  It's full of high character guys who have had a lot of success at a lot of different levels."

Knight was born in Oliver, B.C. but grew up in High River and he would love to bring back the gold and show it off to his friends and family at home.