Dec 23: Canada has added Mathew Maione and Blair Riley to the club, two more players with plenty of international experience.
Dec 19: While most fans of international hockey are paying attention to the upcoming World Junior Championship, there is actually another high-level tournament that starts at the same time. The Spengler Cup, where several club teams from around the world gather to compete is held every year just after Christmas. Canada also submits a team in the tournament, and this year’s edition has quite a few names that should be familiar to NHL fans.
G Brendan Burke
G Zach Fucale
G Matt Tomkins
D Paul Postma
D Ian Mitchell
D Alex Grant
D Patrick Wiercioch
D Andrew MacDonald
D Maxim Noreau
F Adam Tambellini
F Kris Versteeg
F Dustin Jeffrey
F Eric Fehr
F Justin Danforth
F Scottie Upshall
F Cory Emmerton
F Daniel Winnik
F Kevin Clark
F Ben Maxwell
F David Desharnais
F Josh Jooris
F Chris DiDomenico
Mitchell immediately stands out in the group, given that unlike many of the other former NHLers, he hasn’t even had his chance at the highest level so far. The Chicago Blackhawks draft pick is still just 20 years old and in his junior year at the University of Denver.
Obviously the Spengler Cup doesn’t come with a whole lot of name recognition, but some of these players could be considered at the next Olympics should the NHL decide not to attend in 2022.
The tournament kicks off on December 26th in Davos, Switzerland.
I recognize a whole lot of names Gavin. Do you watch much hockey?
He is referring to the Cup itself there, see above where he clearly says
“…this year’s edition has quite a few names that should be familiar to NHL fans.”