Two Former Rockets Will Wear The Maple Leaf
r Hockey Canada named two former Rockets and 19 other players to the roster for Team Canada’s entry for the 2009 IIHF World Hockey Championship in Switzerland. 10 of the 21 players named to the roster, including one of the alternate players, are graduates of the Western Hockey League.
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r The 2009 IIHF World Championship begins on April 24th and runs through May 5th in Zurich-Kloten and Bern, Switzerland.
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r Canada has finished with a Medal in five of the last six World Championships, winning Gold in 2003, 2004 and 2007 while finishing with Silver in 2005 and at last year’s event which was held in Halifax, NS, and Quebec, QC.
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r Former Rockets Shea Weber and Luke Schenn are two of the six defensmen named to the team.
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r For both Weber and Schenn, it marks the second time that they have played for Team Canada. Both defensemen have won Gold with the National Junior Team – Weber in 2005 and Schenn in 2008.
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r Goaltender Josh Harding of the Minnesota Wild, a former member of the Regina Pats and Brandon Wheat Kings, is one of two netminders named to the team, along with Dwayne Roloson.
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r On the blue line, five of the six defensemen named to the team are WHL grads, including Nashville Predators’ teammates Dan Hamhuis (Prince George Cougars) and Weber (Kelowna Rockets), Ottawa Senators’ Chris Phillips (Prince Albert Raiders/Lethbridge Hurricanes), and Toronto Maple Leafs’ teammates Ian White (Swift Current Broncos) and Schenn (Kelowna Rockets). Former Prince George Cougars defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski was also included as an alternate.
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r Up front, three WHL grads will represent Team Canada, including Phoenix Coyotes forwards Scottie Upshall and Shane Doan, both former Kamloops Blazers, and Atlanta Thrashers’ sparkplug Colby Armstrong, a former Red Deer Rebel.
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r Also among Team Canada’s WHL-graduate contingent are two of the three members of the coaching staff. Head coach Lindy Ruff, also the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres, is a former Lethbridge Bronco while assistant coach Barry Trotz, the Nashville Predators’ bench boss, is a former Regina Pat.
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r For more on Canada’s National Men’s Hockey team and further coverage of the 2009 IIHF World Hockey Championship, visit the Hockey Canada Website.
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