CALGARY, ALBERTA – Head Coach Dave King and Hockey Canada announced Canada’s roster for the 2003 Deutschland Cup November 7-9, 2003 in Hannover, Germany. Canada enters this event as defending championship, having captured the 2002 Deutschland Cup

Former NHL Coach Dave King (Calgary, Montreal, Columbus), now coaching the Hamburg Freeze, will be Canada’s Head Coach for this event. Assistant coaches for this event are former NHL Head Coach Pierre Pagé (Anaheim, Calgary) and Clément Jodoin, an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens last year.

Canada’s roster for the 2003 Deutschland Cup is mostly comprised of top Canadian players from the Deutschland Elite League (DEL). Of these DEL players, eleven (James Black, Mark Greig, Hnat Domenichelli, Micki Dupont, Chris Joseph, Denis Pederson, Jean-Yves Roy, Andy Schneider, Darryl Shannon, Ken Sutton, Darren Van Impe) have NHL experience, and three (Domenichelli, Joseph, Pederson) have represented Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Bruce Gardiner, of the Finnish Elite League’s Espoo Blues, also has NHL experience.

The NHL’s Dallas Stars have also loaned David Oliver, who is playing with the AHL’s Utah Grizzlies, to Canada’s National Men’s Team for the 2003 Deutschland Cup.

“I’m very pleased with the roster that we have assembled for this year’s Deutschland Cup,” said Dave King. “These are top players in the Elite League in Germany and they are looking forward to making Canada proud as go for Canada’s third Deutschland Cup in four years.”

Dave King’s son Scott, of Iserlohner (DEL), will also be suiting up for Canada at the Deutschland Cup. It is believed to be the first time in the history of Canada’s National Men’s Team that a father coaches his son in an international hockey competition.

Canada’s National Men’s team operates as a part-time team that participates in international events using Canadian-born players that are either playing hockey in Europe or on loan from their North American NHL or AHL teams.

Current NHL-ers Chuck Kobasew (CGY), Matthew Lombardi (CGY) and Travis Roche (MIN) all played with Canada’s National Men’s Team last year in various events.

The 2003 Deutschland Cup marks of the first of six major international events in which Canada’s Men’s Team will participate during the 2003-2004 season.