Spengler Cup, Canada Primed and Ready


No NHL hockey until at least mid-January means pumped up rosters for not only the World Juniors, but also the prestigous Spengler Cup tournament. Canada will be sending perhaps it's best sqauad ever to to Davos, Switzerland. The NHL stars that will be wearing the maple leaf starting December 26 are as follows:
(current Euro league stats GP-G-A-P)

Tyler Seguin (Biel)    27-24-14-38

John Tavares (Bern)    23-16-22-38

Patrice Bergeron (Lugano) 19-11-17-28

Jason Spezza (Rapperswil)   26-9-17-26

Jason Williams (Ambri-Piotta) 29-11-12-23

Jason Demers (Karpat FIN)   30-5-16-21

Matt Duchene (Frolunda FIN)  20-4-10-14

Sam Gagner (Klagenfurter) 18-10-8-18

Cam Barker (Texas AHL) 23-3-5-8

Also playing are Ryan Smyth and Carlo Colaiacovo who have not played anywhere this season.

The goaltenders for Canada are Jonathan Bernier who has played 13 games for Heilbronner Falken of the German Second Division with a 2.57 GAA and Devan Dubnyk who has yet to play this year.

Ex-NHLers on the squad and currently playing in Europe are:

Byron Ritchie (Bern)   30-13-22-35

Josh Holden (Zug) 30-10-10-20

Brett McLean (Lugano) 31-7-16-23

Derrick Walser (Rapperswil) 10-0-4-4

Travis Roche (Bern) 16-2-11-13


Of course, the other teams at the Spengler Cup will also benefit from the lockout as host Davos will have their share of NHL stars:

Joe Thornton 28-7-22-29
Rick Nash      17-12-6-18
and Patrick Kane added from Biel (15-9-8-17).

Mannheim Eagles boast Dennis Seidenberg (23-1-13-14) and Marcel Goc (16-3-13-16).

Vitkovice HC has NHL defenders Roman Polak(22-2-6-8) and Filip Kuba (11-0-4-4).

Personally, I will definitely be checking out some Spengler action to go with the World Juniors. Should tide me over until mid-January, after that, if there's still no NHL I guess it's back to National Geographic documentaries for me.




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