CALGARY, AB - Team Canada General Manager, Lanny McDonald, along with Assistant GM Doug Armstrong and Head Coach Wayne Fleming announced Friday, nine players that will represent Canada at the 2002 IIHF World Hockey Championship, April 27-May 11 in Sweden.

The nine players, (two goaltenders, three defensemen and four forwards), announced by the CHA are:

* Additional players are expected to be announced on Saturday.

"We are very excited with the calibre of players we are announcing today for Team Canada. The response that we have been receiving from players and NHL General Managers has been tremendous, " said GM, Lanny McDonald. "We will continue to monitor the NHL playoff situation very closely, and look forward to naming additional players to our roster over the next week."

Eight of the nine players added have previous international experience. Giguere was part of the 2001 World Championship team in Germany, as well as winning a gold medal at the 1994 Under 18 Championship. Hartnell represented Canada at the Under 18's in 1999, scoring the overtime winning goal for the gold medal win. Heatley represented Canada at the 20 World Juniors, winning two bronze medals. Matvichuk and Sydor both represented Canada at the 1992 World Juniors, while Sydor also suited up for Canada at the 19 World Hockey Championships, winning a gold medal in 1994.

Defenseman James Patrick and forward Greg Johnson both bring a wealth of international experience to Canada's lineup. Patrick participated in four World Hockey Championships (1983, 1987, 1989, 1998) and played with Canada's National Men's Team during the 1983-84 season. Patrick can become Canada's all-time games played leader at this year's championship. His 33 all-time games played currently trail Kevin Dineen, Marcel Dionne and Kirk Muller, who all have played in 37 games. Johnson was a member of Canada's silver medal winning Olympic Team in 1994 and a member of Canada's gold medal winning National Junior Team in 1991. He also played at the 1993 World Hockey Championship after playing 23 games with Canada's National Men's Team during the 1992-93 season.

Canada won two gold medals in the 1990's at the World Hockey Championship - 1994 and again in 1997. Canada finished fifth last year at Men's World Hockey Championship in Germany.

Canada is in a preliminary round group with: Latvia, Italy and the USA. Canada's first game at the 2002 IIHF World Hockey Championship will take place in Karlstad, Sweden on April 27 versus Latvia. This year's World Championship in Sweden will be played in three locations: Karlstad, Gothenburg and Jonkoping, with the final round to be played in Gothenburg.

All of Canada's games will be broadcast live on TSN/RDS, the official broadcaster of the CHA. Check local listings.