Three Former Hogs Named to Olympic Rosters
January 7, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Rockford, Ill. - It was revealed on Tuesday that three former Rockford IceHogs skaters have been selected to represent their country in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia next month.
Sweden announced its roster on Tuesday which featured forward Marcus Kruger and defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, while goaltender Antti Niemi was named to Finland's 25-man roster.
All three will be competing in the Olympic Games for the first time in their career. Niemi joins a team that features three of the National Hockey League's premier goaltenders in himself, Boston's Tuukka Rask, and Kari Lehtonen of the Dallas Stars. Finland is coming off a bronze medal in 2010 and is the only country to medal in three of the four tournaments since the NHL began taking an Olympic break to allow players to participate in 1998.
Hjalmarsson and Kruger join fellow Chicago Blackhawk and countryman Johnny Oduya on Sweden's team. Sweden lost to Slovakia in 2010 in the quarterfinal stage.
The Winter Olympics are set to begin from Sochi on Feb. 6, with men's ice hockey beginning on Feb. 12. The participating teams are based on the nations ranked 1-9 according to the 2012 IIHF Men's World Ranking plus three qualifiers. The four teams with the best records (the group winners and the second-place team with the best record) advance to the quarterfinals on Feb. 19. The Gold Medal Game is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 23 at 6 a.m. (CT).
Group A: Russia (1), Slovakia (6), USA (7), Slovenia (18)
Group B: Finland (2), Canada (5), Norway (8), Austria (15)
Group C: Czech Republic (3), Sweden (4), Switzerland (9), Latvia (11)
Next Home Game: Friday, Jan. 10 vs. Lake Erie. Face off is set for 7 p.m. The game is the first of a back-to-back set against the Monsters and game two of a three game week for the IceHogs.
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