Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl was named Wednesday as one of Germany's flagbearers for the Milan Cortinaopening ceremony in a sign of recognition for one of the NHL's biggest stars as the league returns to the Winter Olympics.
In a rare honor for a first-time Olympian, Draisaitl and ski jumper Katharina Schmid will carry the German flag in Friday's ceremony after they won both an internal poll of German athletes and a public vote. More than 135,000 people took part, the German Olympic committee said.
Draisaitl's opponents in the vote for male flagbearer were Tobias Wendl, who has won six career Olympic gold medals in luge since 2014, winning every Olympic event he's entered, and Nordic combined skier Johannes Rydzek, who's heading into his fifth Olympics and won two gold medals in 2018.