The preliminary roster of Donald MacLean, who coaches the Croatian national team for the third consecutive season, includes Mark Dekanich, Michael Glumac and Andrew Murray, who may represent Croatia for the first time at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group B.

Medvescak Zagreb has been strong in recruiting players from the Croatian diaspora in Europe and North America to be competitive in its participation in cross-border leagues such as the Austria-based EBEL and since 2013 the Russian-based KHL.

Some of those players also have Croatian citizenships. Last year when Croatia won silver at the Division I Group B tournament in Vilnius, the roster included three players born in Canada and this year it could even be more with Dekanich, Glumac and Murray receiving Croatian citizenship. With Bill Thomas and David Brine, two more players have applied for Croatian citizenship to potentially represent the country in the future.

Dekanich, who once played an NHL game for the Nashville Predators, has been one of the netminders in Medvescak Zagreb’s goalie tandem since 2013 after five seasons in the NHL.

Forward Glumac also joined Medvescak that year after eight pro seasons in North America including 40 NHL games for the St. Louis Blues and three years in Germany for Adler Mannheim.

Murray joined Medvescak also in 2013 after eight seasons in the NHL and AHL including 221 NHL games for Columbus, San Jose and St. Louis.