CALGARY, AB –Team Canada General Manager, Lanny McDonald, along with Assistant GM Doug Armstrong and Head Coach Wayne Fleming added defenseman Brad Ference of the NHL’s Florida Panthers to Canada’s Men’s World Championship roster. The 2002 Championship will run April 27-May 11 in Sweden.

Canada’s roster now stands at 19 players (two goaltenders, six defensemen and eleven forwards).

Ference, a native of Calgary, AB, has just completed his third NHL season – all with the Florida Panthers. The 6’3, 212 lb. Defenseman represented Canada at the 1999 World Junior Championship in Winnipeg, MB, winning a silver medal.

Ference, 23, played 80 games this past season for the Panthers, registering 2 goals and 15 assists for 17 points, along with 254 penalty minutes, which ranked him 2nd overall in the NHL in PIM and 2nd on the Panthers behind Peter Worrell.

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.

For more information on the Canadian Hockey Association and Canada’s National teams, visit the official web site of Team Canada at www.canadianhockey.ca.