Larkin, Glendening, Datsyuk, Marchenko, Pulkkinen and Jurco to participate in World Championship

By @MichaelCaples –

Pavel Datsyuk won’t be the only Red Wing skating at the World Championship in May.

The Red Wings announced today that five players – Datsyuk, Dylan Larkin, Alexey Marchenko, Teem Pulkkinen and Tomas Jurco – have all committed to play for their respective countries.

Meanwhile, less than an hour later, USA Hockey announced that Luke Glendening will be joining the Team USA squad.

Datsyuk and Marchenko will skate with Russia; Larkin and Glendening with USA; Pulkkinen with Finland; and Jurco with Slovakia.

For Larkin, it will be the second straight season that the Waterford native dons the Red, White and Blue for the World Championship. This time around, he will be joined by former Michigan teammates Tyler Motte and JT Compher, along with Wolverines standout and former Belle Tire teammate Kyle Connor.

“I just want to keep playing hockey,” Larkin said. “Got a nice week off even though I’m ready to get back out there. There’s a lot of young guys going, I’m friends with most of the college guys, so it’ll be fun to go play hockey with my friends.”

Last year, the World Championship was the final test for Larkin on deciding whether to turn pro or return to school; he finished with only one assist and a -1 rating, but held his own during the 10 games.

Red Wings’ GM Ken Holland said that other players eligible for Team USA have been contacted by the American management team, and that they are weighing their options for the summer months.