CALGARY, AB – Hockey Canada announced on Monday Team Canada's roster for the 2006 Spengler Cup, which will be held in Davos, Switzerland, December 26th-31st.

Canada finished second at last year’s Spengler Cup, which dates back to 1923 and is the oldest continual club tournament in the world. Canada's National Men's Team has competed at the event since 1984 and has won 10 titles during that period. Canada last won the Spengler Cup in 2003.

Hockey Canada’s Executive Vice-President, Johnny Misley, and Team Canada’s head coach, Pat Quinn, have put together a roster of 23 players. Included on the roster are Canadian-born players on club teams in Europe, along with players on loan from NHL/AHL teams.

“It’s exciting once again to have the commitment of 23 players who want to wear the Maple Leaf,” said Misley. “These players sacrifice spending time at home during the holidays to represent their country in Switzerland. We’re grateful to the teams who have loaned players to us for this tournament.”

There is no shortage of players who have gone through Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence. Nine players have competed at the World Junior Championship, including Justin Pogge, the goaltender who led Canada to gold at the 2006 World Juniors in British Columbia. The eight other former World Junior players are goaltender Devan Dubnyk (2006), defencemen Danny Syvret (2005), Jason Doig (1997) and Jay Harrison (2001, 2002) and forwards Jamie Wright (1996), Josh Holden (1998), Brandon Reid (2000, 2001) and Tyler Wright (1992, 1993).

“Experience counts at any international tournament and the Spengler Cup is no different,” said Quinn. “Team Canada is made up of a lot of players who know what it takes to win on the international stage. I’m confident with this group that we’ll be able to represent the country well over the holidays.”

Team Canada will open the Spengler Cup on December 26th against Mora IK (Sweden) at 2:15 p.m. ET, a game that can be seen on all Rogers Sportsnet stations (check local listings for specific times). The tournament will run through December 31st. All of Canada’s games will be on Rogers Sportsnet.

Log on to hockeycanada.ca throughout the tournament to follow Team Canada’s progress.

SPENGLER CUP SCHEDULE

(all times Eastern)

December 26th – CAN vs. Mora IK (SWE), 2:15 p.m.

December 27th – CAN vs. HC Davos (SUI), 2:15 p.m.

December 29th – CAN vs. Khimik (RUS), 9 a.m.

December 30th – CAN vs. EHC Eisbaren Berlin (GER), 9 a.m.

December 31st – Championship final, 6 a.m.

NOTE TO MEDIA

Ron Pyette, Hockey Canada’s Manager, Men’s National Teams, will be with Team Canada in Switzerland. Any media requests should be made through Ron. He can be reached in Switzerland at 41 79 487 22 65 between December 21st and December 31st.