With the NHL/NHLPA labor talks looking grim, the last bit of high-level hockey we'll see for quite a while will be the 7th installment of the World Cup of Hockey from August 30th to September 14th. Let's take a look at the teams, listed with home arenas.
EUROPEAN DIVISION: Czech Republic (Sazka Arena, Prague) COACH: Ivan Hlinka GOALIES: Roman Cechmanek, Martin Prusek & Tomas Vokoun DEFENSE: Roman Hamrlik, Frantisek Kaberle, Tomas Kaberle, Marek Malik, Marek Zidlicky, Jaroslav Spacek & Jiri Slegr FORWARDS: Petr Cajanek, Jiri Dopita, Radek Dvorak, Patrik Elias, Martin Havlat, Milan Hejduk, Jaromir Jagr, Petr Sykora, Vaclav Prospal, Robert Reichel, Martin Rucinsky, Martin Straka, David Vyborny, Tomas Vlasak & Josef Vasicek
Finland (Hartwall Arena, Helsinki) COACH: Raimo Summanen GOALIES: Miikka Kiprusoff, Kari Lehtonen & Vesa Toskala DEFENSE: Joni Pitkanen, Kimmo Timonen, Ossi Vaananen, Sami Salo, Aki-Petteri Berg, Janne Niinimaa, Teppo Numminen & Toni Lydman FORWARDS: Teemu Selanne, Ville Nieminen, Saku Koivu, Olli Jokinen, Tuomo Ruutu, Ville Peltonen, Mikko Eloranta, Antti Laaksonen, Niklas Hagman, Jukka Hentunen, Jere Lehtinen, Riku Hahl, Jarkko Ruutu, Niko Kapanen & Esa Pirnes
Germany (Cologne Arena, Cologne) COACH: Franz Reindl GOALIES: Oliver Jonas, Olaf Kolzig & Robert Muller DEFENSE: Robert Leask, Sascha Goc, Christian Ehrhoff, Mirko Ludemann, Christoph Schubert, Andreas Renz, Lasse Kopitz & Dennis Seidenberg FORWARDS: Jochen Hecht, Marco Sturm, Stefan Ustorf, Martin Reichel, Daniel Kreutzer, Tobias Abstreiter, Tomas Martinec, Eduard Lewandowski, Thomas Greilinger, Klaus Kathan, Tino Boos, Marcel Goc, Andreas Morczinietz, Stephan Retzer & Jan Benda
Sweden (Globe Arena, Stockholm) COACH: Hardy Nilsson GOALIES: Henrik Lundqvist, Tommy Salo & Mikael Tellqvist DEFENSE: Christian Backman, Kim Johnsson, Nicklas Lidstrom, Mattias Norstrom, Marcus Ragnarsson, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Dick Tarnstrom & Mattias Ohlund FORWARDS: Daniel Alfredsson, P.J. Axelson, Nils Ekman, Peter Forsberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Andreas Johansson, Jorgen Jonsson, Fredrik Modin, Marcus Nilson, Markus Naslund, Samuel Pahlsson, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Mats Sundin & Henrik Zetterberg
NORTH AMERICAN DIVISION: Canada (Air Canada Center, Toronto] COACH: Pat Quinn GOALIES: Jose Theodore, Martin Brodeur & Roberto Luongo DEFENSE: Eric Brewer, Adam Foote, Scott Hannan, Ed Jovanovski, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Wade Redden & Robyn Regehr FORWARDS: Shane Doan, Kris Draper, Simon Gagne, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Vincent Lecavalier, Mario Lemieux, Kirk Maltby, Patrick Marleau, Brenden Morrow, Brad Richards, Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth, Martin St. Louis & Joe Thornton
Russia (None) COACH: Zinetula Bilyaletdinov GOALIES: Ilya Bryzgalov & Maxim Sokolov DEFENSE: Sergei Gonchar, Darius Kasparitis, Alex Khavanov, Andrei Markov, Oleg Tverdovsky, Vitaly Vishnevski, Anton Volchenkov & Alexei Zhitnik FORWARDS: Dmitri Afanasenkov, Maxim Afinogenov, Artem Chubarov, Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexei Kovalev, Viktor Kozlov, Oleg Kvasha, Alexander Ovechkin, Sergei Samsonov, Maxim Sushinski, Alexei Yashin & Dainius Zubrus
Slovakia (None) COACH: Jan Filc GOALIES: Peter Budaj, Jan Lasak & Rastislav Stana DEFENSE: Zdeno Chara, Richard Lintner, Ivan Majesky, Branislav Mezei, Jaroslav Obsut, Martin Strbak, Radoslav Suchy & Lubomir Visnovsky FORWARDS: Lubomir Bartecko, Peter Bondra, Pavol Demitra, Marian Gaborik, Michal Handzus, Miroslav Hlinka, Marian Hossa, Ladislav Nagy, Vladimir Orszagh, Zigmund Palffy, Branko Radivojevic, Miroslav Satan, Radovan Somik, Jozef Stumpel & Richard Zednik
United States of America (Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul) COACH: Ron Wilson GOALIES: Ty Conklin, Rick DiPietro & Robert Esche DEFENSE: Chris Chelios, Derian Hatcher, Ken Klee, Brian Leetch, Aaron Miller, Jordan Leopold, Brian Rafalski & Hal Gill FORWARDS: Keith Tkachuk, Tony Amonte, Jason Blake, Steve Konowalchuk, Jeff Halpern, Brian Rolston, Doug Weight, Mike Modano, Bryan Smolinski, Craig Conroy, Bill Guerin, Brett Hull, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury & Jamie Langenbrunner
Schedule (Times are EDT): August 30th: Czech Rep. at Finland [1pm, ESPN/CBC] August 31st: Germany at Sweden [1pm, ESPN/CBC], USA at Canada [7pm, ESPN2/CBC] September 1st: Czech Rep. at Sweden [1pm, ESPN/CBC], Slovakia at Canada [7pm, ESPN2/CBC] September 2nd: Finland at Germany [1:30pm, ESPN2/CBC], Russia at USA [7pm, ESPN2/CBC] September 3rd: Germany at Czech Rep. [1pm, ESPN/CBC], Slovakia at USA [7pm, ESPN2/CBC] September 4th: Sweden at Finland [TBD, CBC], Russia at Canada [7pm, CBC] September 5th: Slovakia at Russia (in Toronto) [7pm, ESPN2/CBC] September 6th: Quarterfinal (1st & 4th in European Div.) [1pm, CBC] September 7th: Quarterfinals (2nd & 3rd in European Div.) [1pm, ESPN/CBC], North American Quarter [7pm, ESPN2/CBC] September 8th: Other North American Quarter [7pm, ESPN2/CBC] September 10th: Semi-Final [7pm, ESPN2/CBC] September 11th: Other Semi-Final [6:30pm, ESPN2/CBC] September 14th: Final [7pm, ESPN2/CBC]
(edited by Freeway420 on 8.8.04 2234)
(edited by Freeway420 on 9.8.04 2358)
(edited by Freeway420 on 11.8.04 1605) CALGARY FLAMES: Your 2004 Western Conference Champions DVDs I Own
On paper, it's our tournament to lose. No other team is as well rounded. Finland has great goaltending but that's it. Russia and Sweden have good teams but average (at best) goaltenders. The US looks good but old.
The Czechs will be dangerous if Tomas Vokoun plays well.
WWE now serving only -> "DIET CHAVO - All the taste - Half the fat!"
Well, Ed Belfour dropped out of the tourney today. Makes Canada's goaltending that much better by putting Jose Theodore in there along with Marty Brodeur & Luongo.
CALGARY FLAMES: Your 2004 Western Conference Champions DVDs I Own
Ed Belfour couldn't be less relevant. He was the #3 goalie going in, so if he wants to sit it out it's no big deal. At least with Theodore on the team they'll have Hell's Angels protection, so no one will be taking cheap shots at the Canadians on the ice.
Being an extremely casual hockey fan (although I was geeked for USA/Canada in Salt Lake City back in '02...damn Gretzky rigged the ice!), there's only one name I recognize right away off of Team USA.
And that's the Edmonton Oilers' Ty Conklin(NHL.com)...former national champion between the pipes in the 1990s with the Green Bay Gamblers.
Star wipe, and...we're out. Thrillin' ain't easy.
THE THRILL ACW-NWA Wisconsin Home Video Technical Director...& A2NWO 4 Life! (Click the big G or here to hear the Packers Fight Song in RealAudio...or try .AU, .WAV or .MIDI!)
Thread ahead: Lost & Found: Stanley Cup Next thread: Kiprusoff Kashes In: $2.95M Arbitration Award Previous thread: Former Pens coach dies from Injuries sustained in car wreck
Hockey etiquette 101: -Do not leave/return to your seats until there is a stoppage of play -Once you pick who your team is, never leave a game featuring them early (emergency situations excluded of course)