Damphousse and Graves Added to Team Canada Roster

CALGARY - Canadian Hockey announced today that forwards Vincent Damphousse of the Montreal Canadiens and Adam Graves of the New York Rangers have been added to the Team Canada roster for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey.

Damphousse and Graves will replace Paul Kariya and Mario Lemieux on Team Canada's lineup. Kariya informed Team Canada General Manager, Glen Sather, earlier today that he had been advised by medical specialists that he will not be able to play in this year's World Cup due to an injury to his abdominal area. Kariya, who has been a standout with Canada at previous World Championship, Olympic and World Junior Championship competitions, is extremely disappointed that he will not be in a position to once again represent his country in this prestigious event.

"Obviously, we were very disappointed to learn earlier today that Paul Kariya would not be available, however, we feel we have added two outstanding players which will give us some further depth in the areas we require," said Sather.

Damphousse, a 10 year NHL veteran, lead Montreal in goal scoring with 38 this past season and, during his career, has been the leading scorer with three different NHL clubs.

Graves, a native of Toronto, is a 9 year NHL veteran who served as captain of Team Canada at the 1993 World Championship.

Team Canada will officially open training camp in Whistler, B.C. on August 15, with the first pre-tournament game in Vancouver against Team USA on August 20.