Presence
Felt
Seventeen all-stars and five Calder Cup champions are among the 105 AHL alumni
to participate in the World Cup of Hockey.
08.27.04 - When the puck drops on Monday to open the World Cup of Hockey 2004,
more than 100 former and current American Hockey League players will be competing
to capture the championship of one of hockey's greatest tournaments.
Slovakia features twenty players with AHL experience on their roster, the highest representation for any of the eight participating nations.
Among that group are former AHL All-Stars Pavol Demitra, Zdeno Chara, Ladislav Nagy, Michal Handzus, Lubos Bartecko and Radoslav Suchy, as well as Hershey Bears goaltender Peter Budaj and Rastislav Stana, a 2004 All-Star netminder with the Portland Pirates.
The United States team boasts 16 AHL alumni, including former Calder Cup finalists Rick DiPietro (also a 2002 AHL All-Star), Ty Conklin, Craig Conroy and Ken Klee, who joined Germany's Olaf Kolzig and Russia's Sergei Gonchar in winning an AHL championship with Portland in 1994.
U.S. goaltender Robert Esche was an AHL All-Star in 1999, and Brett Hull was voted the league's outstanding rookie in 1987.
Thirteen members of Canada's squad are AHL graduates, including 1999 AHL All-Star and reigning NHL MVP Martin St. Louis, three-time Stanley Cup champion Martin Brodeur, 2004 Vezina Trophy finalist Roberto Luongo and 2002 NHL MVP Jose Theodore.
The Czech Republic will have 15 AHL graduates on the ice, including former All-Stars Patrik Elias, Vaclav Prospal and Tomas Vokoun. Sweden's Mattias Norstrom and Russia's Dmitri Kalinin were also All-Stars during their AHL careers.
In addition to the players, current Portland Pirates head coach Tim Army and 1999 AHL Coach of the Year Peter Laviolette are serving as assistants under Ron Wilson behind the United States bench, while former AHL head coaches Pat Quinn and Jacques Martin are serving as head coach and associate coach, respectively, for Canada.
Finnish head coach Raimo Summanen skated in the AHL during his playing days, and Russia's Zinetula Bilyaletdinov was an assistant coach with the Springfield Falcons in 1995-96.
The World Cup of Hockey 2004 begins on Monday with a game between the Czech Republic and Finland. The championship game is scheduled for Sept. 14 at Toronto.
AHL
Alumni on World Cup of Hockey 2004 Rosters (as of 8/27/04):
x-indicates former AHL All-Star; y-indicates former Calder
Cup champion
|
Canada
(13) Germany
(9) Sweden
(9)
|
Czech
Republic (15) Slovakia
(20)
|
Finland
(11)
United
States (15)
|
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