105 AHL alumni ready to skate in World Cup of Hockey
Published on August 27, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL) News Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... When the puck drops on Monday to open the World Cup of Hockey 2004, 105 former and current American Hockey League players will be competing to capture the championship of one of hockey's greatest tournaments.
Twenty players with AHL experience are on Slovakia's 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)
Jay Bouwmeester, D
Eric Brewer, D
Martin Brodeur, G
Shane Doan, F
Kris Draper, F
Adam Foote, D
Scott Hannan, D
Roberto Luongo, G
y-Kirk Maltby, F
Robyn Regehr, D
Ryan Smyth, F
x-Martin St. Louis, F
Jose Theodore, G
Czech Republic (15)
Roman Cechmanek, G
x-Patrik Elias, F
Jiri Fischer, D
Frantisek Kaberle, D
Tomas Kaberle, D
Marek Malik, D
x-Vaclav Prospal, F
Martin Prusek, G
Maritn Rucinsky, F
Jiri Slegr, D
Jaroslav Spacek, D
Petr Sykora, F
Tomas Vlasak, F
x-Tomas Vokoun, G
David Vyborny, F
Finland (11)
Riku Hahl, F
Jukka Hentunen, F
Olli Jokinen, F
Niko Kapanen, F
x-Miikka Kiprusoff, G
y-Antti Laaksonen, F
x-Kari Lehtonen, G
Ville Nieminen, F
Ville Peltonen, F
Jarkko Ruutu, F
Vesa Toskala, G
Germany (9)
Christian Ehrhoff, D
Marcel Goc, F
Sascha Goc, D
Jochen Hecht, F
y-Olaf Kolzig, G
Rob Leask, D
Christoph Schubert, D
Dennis Seidenberg, D
Stefan Ustorf, F
Russia (13)
Dmitry Afanasenkov, F
Maxim Afinogenov, F
Ilya Bryzgalov, G
Artem Chubarov, F
Evgeni Nabokov, G
y-Sergei Gonchar, D
x-Dmitri Kalinin, D
Alexei Kovalev, F
Oleg Kvasha, F
Andrei Markov, D
Oleg Petrov, F
Oleg Tverdovsky, D
Vitaly Vishnevski, D
Slovakia (20)
x-Lubos Bartecko, F
Peter Budaj, G
x-Zdeno Chara, D
Martin Cibak, F
x-Pavol Demitra, F
x-Michal Handzus, F
Jan Lasak, G
Richard Lintner, D
Branislav Mezei, D
x-Ladislav Nagy, F
Jaroslav Obsut, D
Vladimir Orszagh, F
Branko Radivojevic, F
Miroslav Satan, F
Radovan Somik, F
x-Rastislav Stana, G
Martin Strbak, D
Jozef Stumpel, F
x-Radoslav Suchy, D
Richard Zednik, F
Sweden (9)
Christian Backman, D
Nils Ekman, F
Tomas Holmstrom, F
Andreas Johansson, F
Marcus Nilson, F
x-Mattias Norstrom, D
Samuel Pahlsson, F
Dick Tarnstrom, D
Mikael Tellqvist, G
United States (15)
Jason Blake, F
Ty Conklin, G
Craig Conroy, F
x-Rick DiPietro, G
x-Robert Esche, G
Bill Guerin, F
Jeff Halpern, F
Brett Hull, F
y-Ken Klee, D
Steve Konowalchuk, F
John-Michael Liles, D
Aaron Miller, D
Brian Rolston, F
Doug Weight, F
Eric Weinrich, D
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