Hockey Canada has announced the 24 players who will represent Canada at the 2011 Spengler Cup

Hockey Canada has announced the 24 players who will represent Canada at the 2011 Spengler Cup. 20 of the Canadian players who will be in action in Davos this year are currently playing in Switzerland’s first hockey league (among them Joel Kwiatkowski, Travis Roche, Byron Ritchie and Jean-Pierre Vigier of current Swiss league leaders SC Bern).

The team was assembled by Brad Pascall, Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations/national teams, along with Hockey Canada’s national teams staff, head coach Marc Crawford and assistant coaches Doug Shedden and Trent Yawney.

“Representing Canada Proudly”

“The players we have selected are Canadian ambassadors for the game and we are excited they will wear the maple leaf in Davos and represent Canada proudly,” says Pascall.

Eight of the players were part of last year’s team (Down, Kwiatkowski, Metropolit, Brett McLean, Murphy, Pelletier, Roche, Vigier), which lost the final against St Petersburg 3:4. Four players (Kwiatkowski, Metropolit, Murphy, Roest) were in action for Canada at the IIHF World Championship, where the team was eliminated by the Russians in the quarter finals (1:2).

Three Players Loaned from the NHL

Hockey Canada has also selected some players (Allen, Fata, McLean, Parent, Reid) who had previously represented Canada at IIHF World Junior Championships.

Three of the players usually play in the AHL and have been loaned by NHL teams (Allen – St. Louis; McLean – Chicago and Parent – Vancouver).

Canada Appoints Goaltending Consultant

Ron Tugnutt has joined Hockey Canada as its new full-time goaltending consultant. Tugnutt had already been a part-time employee of Team Canada during the two previous seasons and assistant coach of the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. He was an NHL goal keeper for 17 seasons and represented Canada at the World Championships in 1993 and 1999.