Here's some
interesting notes from the World Cup of Hockey.
First Goal Wins
In today's era of defensive hockey, the first
goal in a game is often the most important. Want
proof? Through nine games in the World Cup of
Hockey 2004, the team scoring the first goal is a
perfect 9-0. In fact, no team has relinquished the
lead, though the score was equalled twice.NHL Team Representation
With World Cup rosters locked, lets look at the team by team
breakdowns.
There are 208 players in total, 26 for each team. 163 are currently
in the NHL, leaving 45 from outside the league. 20 of those 45 players
play for Team Germany, not surprisingly. Only Canada and the United
States have teams completely stocked with NHL players.
| Nation |
#
of NHLers |
| Canada |
26 |
| Czech
Republic |
23 |
| Finland |
22 |
| Germany |
6 |
| Russia |
20 |
| Slovakia |
17 |
| Sweden |
23 |
| USA |
26 |
Arch rivals Vancouver and Colorado lead the way with 10 players
each at the World Cup. Philadelphia has 9 and Detroit and New
Jersey have 8 each. Carolina and Chicago have only 1 player each
representing the tournament. This list does not include prospects.
Here's a complete breakdown:
| NHL
Club |
#
of Players |
| Anaheim |
5 |
| Atlanta |
5 |
| Boston |
5 |
| Buffalo |
5 |
| Calgary |
6 |
| Carolina |
1 |
| Chicago |
1 |
| Colorado |
10 |
| Columbus |
3 |
| Dallas |
6 |
| Detroit |
8 |
| Edmonton |
4 |
| Florida |
5 |
| Los
Angeles |
7 |
| Minnesota |
2 |
| Montreal |
5 |
| Nashville |
5 |
| New
Jersey |
8 |
| NY
Islanders |
6 |
| NY
Rangers |
2 |
| Ottawa |
7 |
| Philadelphia |
9 |
| Phoenix |
3 |
| Pittsburgh |
3 |
| St.
Louis |
7 |
| San
Jose |
7 |
| Tampa
Bay |
7 |
| Toronto |
7 |
| Vancouver |
10 |
| Washington |
4 |
| Total |
163 |
Trophy Case
Of the 208 players participating in the World
Cup, 28 of them have won a major NHL individual
award. In total those 28 players have an accumulated
66 major awards between them. Mario Lemieux leads
the way with 11.
There are 7 Hart
Trophy winners, including Lemieux, Peter Forsberg,
Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr, Martin St. Louis, Joe
Sakic and Jose Theodore.
There are 5 Conn
Smythe Trophy winners, including Lemieux, Sakic,
Brian Leetch, Niklas Lidstrom and Brad Richards
Youngest/Oldest
Alexander Ovechkin, the only teenager in the
tournament, is the youngest player in the tournament
at 18 years and 11 months. He is the fourth youngest
player in tournament history following Ed Olczyk (18
years, 0 months in 1984), Eric Lindros (18 years, 6
months in 1991) and Alexei Zhitnik (18 years 10
months in 1991). Back up goalie Milan Hnlicka was 18
years 2 months in 1991, but never played in the
tournament.
Chris Chelios became the oldest players to ever play
in the World Cup. Chelios, 42 years, 7 months
surpassing Swedish legend Borje Salming, who played
in 1991 at 40 years and 4 months.
Brett Hull will automatically slip in as the third
oldest at 40 years, 1 month. Petr Briza, should he
get any action with the Czech Republic, will
automatically be #4 at 39 years, 9 months, while
Mario Lemieux will be #5 at 38 years, 11 months.
The old record had
Tony Esposito (USA 1981) and Viacheslav Fetisov
(Russia 1996) sharing second place. Both players
started their last tournaments at exactly 38 years,
4 months and 9 days!
Brother Act
There are 5 sets of brothers playing in the
World Cup. Oddly, they are scattered amongst 6
teams.
Finland leads the way
with two sets, Jarkko and Tuomo Ruutu and Saku and
Miika Koivu. Sweden as twin brother Daniel and
Henrik Sedin while Germany has Marcel and Sasha Goc.
That brings us to the
Reichal brothers. Long time NHLer Robert plays for
his native Czech Republic, but lesser known brother
Martin plays for Germany where he has enjoyed a long
professional career.
|
Legends
of Team Canada Book Oct 2004
|
