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Grand Rapids Griffins

Jurco Named to Slovakian Olympic Team

January 7, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Grand Rapids Griffins forward Tomas Jurco on Tuesday was named to the Slovakian Olympic Team that will compete at the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, next month.

Jurco is set to become just the fifth player in franchise history to participate in the Olympics while an active Griffin, joining Sergei Kolosov (2010 Belarus), Niklas Kronwall (2006 Sweden), Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (2010 Norway) and Julien Vauclair (2002 Switzerland). Teamed on the Slovakian squad with former Griffins Tomas Kopecky and Tomas Tatar, the 2013 Calder Cup and 2011 Memorial Cup champion will be among a contingent of 11 Griffins alumni competing for seven different nations during the Games.

"It's really exciting for me, obviously," said Jurco, who previously represented his country in a pair of World Junior Championships (2011 and 2012) as well as the World U18 Championship (2009). "It's been a while since I wore a Slovakian jersey. This is something that I'm really excited about and really looking forward to.

"It was this morning when I found out. They had a conference back home at 1 p.m., which is 7 a.m. here in Grand Rapids. I was still sleeping, but my phone woke me up because it was always vibrating. People were sending me texts and calling me, so I knew something was going on and that I probably got the spot on the Slovakian team. So, I woke up at 7 a.m., which is unusual for me because I usually like to sleep, but I was really happy. I don't think that I'll fall asleep tonight."

Sweden matches Slovakia with three former Griffins on its roster -- Jonathan Ericsson, Jonas Gustavsson and Kronwall -- while five other countries have a single Grand Rapids alum within their ranks: Finland (Valtteri Filppula), Norway (Tollefsen), Slovenia (Jan Mursak), Switzerland (Vauclair) and the United States (Jimmy Howard).

In the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy, Kronwall became the first Griffins alumnus to earn an Olympic medal, winning gold thanks to Sweden's victory over Finland in the championship game. Filppula became the second to medal in 2010 in Vancouver, earning a bronze with Finland.

The preliminary round of the 2014 Olympic men's hockey tournament runs Feb. 12-16, followed by the qualification round (Feb. 18-19), semifinals (Feb. 21 at 7 a.m. and noon ET), Bronze Medal Game (Feb. 22 at 10 a.m. ET) and Gold Medal Game (Feb. 23 at 7 a.m. ET)

Griffins in the Olympics (1984-2010)

Participated While Playing for the Griffins

Player Country Year/Site Finish

Sergei Kolosov Belarus 2010/Vancouver 9th

Niklas Kronwall Sweden 2006/Turin Gold

Ole-Kristian Tollefsen Norway 2010/Vancouver 10th

Julien Vauclair Switzerland 2002/Salt Lake City 11th

Participated After Playing for the Griffins

Player Country Year/Site Finish

Aigars Cipruss Latvia 2006/Turin 12th

Aigars Cipruss Latvia 2002/Salt Lake City 9th

Pavol Demitra Slovakia 2010/Vancouver 4th

Pavol Demitra Slovakia 2006/Turin 5th

Pavol Demitra Slovakia 2002/Salt Lake City 13th

Valtteri Filppula Finland 2010/Vancouver Bronze

Erich Goldmann Germany 2002/Salt Lake City 8th

Jani Hurme Finland 2002/Salt Lake City 6th

Tomas Kopecky Slovakia 2010/Vancouver 4th

Niklas Kronwall Sweden 2010/Vancouver 5th

Stefan Liv Sweden 2010/Vancouver 5th

Rastislav Pavlikovsky Slovakia 2002/Salt Lake City 13th

Robert Petrovicky Slovakia 2002/Salt Lake City 13th

Konstantin Shafranov Kazakhstan 2006/Turin 9th

Andrei Sryubko Ukraine 2002/Salt Lake City 10th

Julien Vauclair Switzerland 2006/Turin 6th

Participated Before Playing for the Griffins

Player Country Year/Site Finish

Slava Butsayev Unified Team 1992/Albertville Gold

Chris Chelios USA 2006/Turin 8th

Chris Chelios USA 2002/Salt Lake City Silver

Chris Chelios USA 1998/Nagano 6th

Chris Chelios USA 1984/Sarajevo 7th

Erich Goldmann Germany 1998/Nagano 9th

Jonas Gustavsson Sweden 2010/Vancouver 5th

Todd Hlushko Canada 1994/Lillehammer Silver

Curtis Joseph Canada 2002/Salt Lake City Gold

Mike Knuble USA 2006/Turin 8th

Stefan Liv Sweden 2006/Turin Gold

Kevin Miller USA 1988/Calgary 7th

Michael Nylander Sweden 2002/Salt Lake City 5th

Michael Nylander Sweden 1998/Nagano 5th

Robert Petrovicky Slovakia 1998/Nagano 10th

Robert Petrovicky Slovakia 1994/Lillehammer 6th

Travis Richards USA 1994/Lillehammer 8th

David Roberts USA 1994/Lillehammer 8th

Konstantin Shafranov Kazakhstan 1998/Nagano 8th

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