6 Saskatchewan athletes to watch for at the 2022 Beijing Olympics

Six athletes born in Saskatchewan will represent Canada at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. The country is sending 211 athletes to the Olympics, which officially begin with opening ceremonies on Feb. 4 and close on Feb. 20. 

In total, 16 people with ties to the province will either compete, coach, or officiate in Beijing. The six Saskatchewan-born athletes include:

The honour of representing Canada at the Winter Games is not lost on Adam Cracknell, who is from Prince Albert, about 360 km northwest of Regina. "It's something I can look back on the rest of my life. It's going to be an amazing experience," Cracknell said.

Throughout his career, the right winger has worn 21 jerseys with seven stops in the NHL, 11 in the American Hockey League where he's now the captain of the Bakersfield Condors, Edmonton's AHL affiliate.

In his only year playing abroad, Cracknell signed with the Kontinental Hockey League's Kunlun Red Star in 2019-20 — based in Beijing. 

"I know where the Cheesecake Factory is and the grocery store, so I'm good to go," Cracknell joked during a video call from Davos, Switzerland, where the Olympic team is training.

The 36-year-old has worn the Maple Leaf before, winning  a silver medal with Team Canada at the 2018-19 Spengler Cup.

He credits his parents and his Prairie upbringing for fostering his lifelong love of the game, recalling fond memories of playing hockey outdoors.  "You'd ride your sled out to the rink and your parents would drop off soup throughout the day and we'd be out there for, you know, seven hours a day, just playing and having fun and pretending we were NHL players,"  he said. Cracknell, who now lives in Cranbrook, about 960 km east of Vancouver, said that since the Team Canada announcement,