The Puck Stops Here

Usually, the World Hockey Championships are a forgotten tournament that occurs while the Stanley Cup playoffs are underway and few notice. They are usually played among players who played the season in Europe and NHL players who missed the playoffs or had quick exits from the playoffs. That is not true this year since there are no playoffs. Nevertheless, because many top players did not play any hockey this year and are not in game shape, some significant stars will be absent this year.

Today Canada and the United States named partial rosters. Both have significant star players left off the roster who would have played under more normal circumstances.

Canada's partial roster

Goaltenders
Martin Brodeur
Roberto Luongo
Marty Turco

Defencemen
Scott Hannan
Ed Jovanovski
Chris Phillips
Wade Redden
Robyn Regehr
Sheldon Souray
vacant

Forwards
Shane Doan
Kris Draper
Simon Gagne
Dany Heatley
Kirk Maltby
Brendan Morrison
Brendan Morrow
Rick Nash
Ryan Smyth
Joe Thornton
3 vacancies

United States partial roster

Goaltenders
Ty Conklin
Rick DiPietro
Tim Thomas

Defencemen
Hal Gill
John-Michael Liles
Jordan Leopold
Paul Martin
Aaron Miller
Andy Roach
vacant

Forwards
Erik Cole
Matt Cullen
Brian Gionta
Adam Hall
Jeff Halpern
Mike Knuble
David Legwand
Mike Modano
Richard Park
Mark Parrish
Doug Weight
Mike York
vacant

It looks like a good tournament. It will likely be the best hockey played in the world since last September's World Cup.

NOTE: This will probably be my last post for a few days. I will have visitors in town for a few days and then I will travel myself. It is unlikely that I will have either the time or ability to post for a while.