主題: World Cup of Hockey 2016

Intre 17 septembrie si 1 octombrie, Air Canada Center din Toronto (18.819 locuri) va gazdui editia a treia a Cupei Mondiale, competitie asezata sub egida NHL. Vor participa Canada, Statele Unite ale Americii, Cehia si Team Europe (echipe repartizate in grupa A), respectiv Finlanda, Rusia, Suedia si Team North America (o selectionata U 23 a jucatorilor din Canada si USA) (echipa repartizate in grupa B). In grupe se va juca dupa sistemul "fiecare cu fiecare", primele doua clasate urmand sa avanseze in semifinale. Faza eliminatorie va propune o confruntare decisiva de tipul "cel mai bun din trei partide".

1. In dimineata zilei de 27 mai, FINLANDA a anuntat lotul cu care va aborda competitia:

Tuukka Rask (Boston Bruins), Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators), Mikko Koskinen (SKA Sankt Petersburg, KHL) - portari;

Olli Maatta (Pittsburgh Penguins),Rasmus Ristolainen (Buffalo Sabres), Sami Vatanen (Anaheim Ducks), Esa Lindell (Dallas Stars), Pokka (Chicago BlackHawks), Sami Lepisto (Salavat Yulaev Ufa, KHL), Jyrki Jokipakka (Calgary Flames) - fundasi;


Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula (toti Minnesota Wild), Jori Lehtera (St.Louis Blues), Aleksander Barkov, Jussi Jokinen(ambii Florida Panthers), Valtteri Filppula (Tampa Bay Lightning), Leo Komarov (Toronto Maple Leafs), Joonas Donskoi (San Jose Sharks), Lauri Korpikoski (Edmonton Oilers), Teuvo Teravainen (Chicago BlackHawks), Patrik Laine (Tappara Tampere, SM-liiga), Sebastian Aho (Karpat Oulu, SM-liiga) - atacanti.

2. RUSIA a anuntat, la randul ei, team-ul pentru competitia din a doua jumatate a lunii septembrie:

Serghei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets), Semyon Varlamov (Colorado Avalanche), Andrei Vasilevsky (Tampa Bay Lightning) - portari;

Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin (ambii Montreal Canadiens), Dmitri Orlov (Washington Capitals), Dmitri Kulikov (Florida Panthers), Alexei Marchenko (Detroit RedWings), Vyacheslav Voinov (SKA Sankt Petersburg), Nikita Zaytsev (Toronto Maple Leafs) - fundasi;

Aleksandr Ovechkin, Evgheni Kuznetsov (ambii Washington Capitals), Artem Anisimov, Artemy Panarin (ambii Chicago BlackHawks), Vladimir Tarasenko (St.Louis Blues), Nikita Kucherov, Vladislav Namestnikov (ambii Tampa Bay Lightning), Nikolay Kulyomin (New York Islanders), Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit RedWings), Evgheni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins), Vadim Shipachyov, Evgheni Dadonov (ambii SKA Sankt Petersburg), Ivan Telegin (CSKA Moscova) - atacanti.

3. Iata si reprezentativa Statelor Unite:

Ben Bishop (Tampa Bay Lightning), Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles Kings), Cory Schneider (New Jersey Devils) - portari;

Dustin Byfuglien (Winnipeg Jets), John Carlson ( Washington Capitals), Erik Johnson (Colorado Avalanche), Jack Johnson (Columbus Blue Jackets), Ryan McDonagh (New York Rangers), Matt Niskanen (Washington Capitals), Ryan Suter (Minnesota Wild) - fundasi;

Justin Abdelkader (Detroit Red Wings), David Backes ( St. Louis Blues), Ryan Callahan (Tampa Bay Lightning), Brandon Dubinsky (Columbus Blue Jackets), Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks), Ryan Kesler (Anaheim Ducks), T.J. Oshie (Washington Capitals), Max Pacioretty (Montreal Canadiens), Zach Parise ( Minnesota Wild), Joe Pavelski (San Jose Sharks), Derek Stepan (New York Rangers), James van Riemsdyk ( Toronto Maple Leafs), Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg Jets) - atacanti.

4. Canada a anuntat un lot extrem de valoros in vederea participarii la competitia din septembrie a.c. Numele nu trebuie insotite de prezentari suplimentare:

Corey Crawford (Chicago BlackHawks), Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals), Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens) - portari;
Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin (ambii Los Angeles Kings), Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks), Mac-Edouard Vlasic, Brent Burns (ambii San Jose Sharks), Shea Weber (Nasville Pregators), Alex Pietrangelo (St.Louis Blues) - fundasi;
Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin (ambii Dallas Stars), Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand (ambii Boston Bruins), Jeff Carter (Los Angeles Kings), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Matt Duchene (Colorado Avalanche), Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks), Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers), John Tavares (New York Islanders), Jonathan Toews (Chicago BlackHawks), Joe Thronton (San Jose Sharks) - atacanti.

5.Selectionata nord-americana U 23 (un team al tinerilor jucatori din Statele Unite si Canada) va avea urmatoarea componenta:

John Gibson (Anaheim Ducks, USA), Connor Hellebuyck (Manitoba Moose-AHL, USA), Matt Murray (Pittsburgh Penguins, CAN) - portari;

Aaron Ekblad (Florida Panthers, CAN), Shayne Gostisbehere (Philadelphia Flyers, USA), Colton Parayko (St.Louis Blues, CAN), Seth Jones (Columbus Blue Jackets, USA), Ryan Murray (Columbus Blue Jackets, CAN), Morgan Rielly (Toronto Maple Leafs, CAN), Jacob Trouba (Winnipeg Jets, USA) - fundasi;

Sean Couturier (Philadelphia Flyers, USA), Jonathan Drouin (Tampa Bay Lightning, CAN), Jake Eichel (Buffalo Sabres, USA), Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames, USA), Dylan Larkin (Detroit RedWings, USA), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche, CAN), Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers, CAN), Auston Matthews (Zurich Lions-LNA, USA), TJ Miller (New York Rangers, USA), Sean Monahan (Calgary Flames, CAN), Brandon Saad (Columbus Blue Jackets, USA), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton Oilers, CAN), Mak Sheifele (Winnipeg Jets, CAN) - atacanti.

6. Vicecampioana olimpica, SUEDIA, se va baza pe urmatorii hocheisti:

Robin Lehner (Buffalo Sabres), Henrik Lundquist (New York Rangers), Jacob Markstrom (Vancouver Canucks) - portari;

Mattias Ekholm (Nashville Predators), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Arizona Coyotes), Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman (ambii Tampa Bay Lightning), Niklas Hjalmarsson (Chicago BlackHawks), Erik Karlsson (Ottawa Senators), Niklas Kronwall (Detroit RedWings) - fundasi;

Niklas Backstrom (Washington Capitals), Loui Eriksson (Boston Bruins), Filip Forsberg (Nasville Predators), Patric Hornquist, Carl Hagelin (ambii Pittsburg Penguins), Marcus Kruger (Chicago BlackHawks), Gabriel Landeskog, Carl Soderbergn (ambii Vancouver Canucks), Jakob Silfverberg (Anaheim Ducks), Alexander Steen (St.Louis Blues), Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit RedWings) - atacanti.

7. Team Europe, selectionata continentala fara cehi, rusi, suedezi si finlandezi, se va prezenta in felul urmator:

Frederik Andersen (Anaheim Ducks, DEN), Jaroslav Halak (New York Islanders, SLK), Thomas Greiss (New York Islanders, GER) - portari;

Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins, SLK), Dennis Seidenberg (Boston Bruins, GER), Andrej Sekera (Edmonton Oilers, SLK), Mark Streit (Philadelphia Flyers, SUI), Roman Josi (Nashville Predators, SUI), Christian Ehrhoff (Chicago BlackHawks, GER), Luca Sbisa (Vancouver Canucks, SUI) - fundasi;

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Philadelphia Flyers, FRA), Mikkel Boedker (Colorado Avalanche, DEN), Marian Gaborik (Los Angeles Kings, SLK), Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers, GER), Marian Hossa (Chicago BlackHawks), Jannik Hansen (Vancouver Canucks, DEN), Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings, SLO), Frans Nielsen (New York Islanders, DEN), Tomas Tatar (Detroit RedWings, SLK), Tomas Vanek (Minnesota Wild, AUT), Mats Zuccarello (new York Rangers, NOR), nino Niederreiter (mInnesota Wild, SUI), Tobias Rieder (Arizona Coyotes, GER) - atacanti.

8. In fine, Cehia va alinia urmatoarea echipa:

Petr Mrazek (Detroit RedWings), Michal Neuvirth (Philadelphia Flyers), Ondrej Pavelec (Winnipeg Jets) - portari;

Redko Gudas (Philadelphia Flyers), Zbynek Michalek (Arizona Coyotes), Jakub Nakladal (Calgary Flames), Michal Jordan (Carolina Hurricanes), Roman Polak (Toronto Maple Leafs), Andrej Sustr (Tampa Bay Lightning), Michal Kempny (Chicago BlackHawks) - fundasi;

Radek Faksa, Ales Hemsky (ambii Dallas Stars), Martin Hanzal (Arizona Coyotes), David Krejci, David Pastrnak (ambii Boston Bruins), Tomas Plekanec (Montreal Canadiens), Milan Michalek (Toronto Maple Leafs), Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks), Ondrej Palat (Tampa Bay Lightning), Vladimir Sobotka (Avangard Omsk, KHL), Dmitrij Jashkin (St.Louis Blues), Jakub Voracek (Philadelphia Flyers), Jiri Hudler (Calgary Flames) - atacanti.

9. 184 de hocheisti au fost inscrisi pe listele oficiale ale competitiei. Dintre acestia, 173 sunt inregimentati la cluburi din NHL (desi, spre pilda, Nikita Zaytsev n-a apucat sa debuteze in liga profesionista de peste Ocean), sapte provin de la grupari din KHL (patru de la SKA Sankt Petersburg), doi sunt (inca) jucatori in SM-liiga, iar cu cate un hocheist contribuie LNA si AHL.

Desigur, in intersezon pot avea loc si alte miscari de jucatori (se spune ca Datsyuk va semna cu SKA Sankt Petersburg, ca Laine, Sobotka si Matthews vor ajunge in NHL), insa in acest moment asa se prezinta situatia - 94,02% din jucatorii anuntati ca vor participa la Cupa Mondiala 2016 provin de la team-uri din NHL.

10. Toate cele 30 de cluburi din NHL au macar cate un reprezentant in listele de jucatori pentru Cupa Mondiala. Daca ar fi sa ierarhizam contributiile gruparilor din liga profesionista nord-americana pe primul loc s-ar situa Chicago BlackHawks cu 13 hocheisti; campioana (inca) en titre este urmata de Tampa Bay Lightning, cu 12 hocheisti selectionati, de Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Detroit RedWings, Philadelphia Flyers, cu cate opt hocheisti selectionati, de Minnesota Wild, St.Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, cu cate sapte hocheisti selectionati s.a.

11. In pregatirea Cupei Mondiale, Rusia si Cehia se vor intalni in doua jocuri amicale: primul se va disputa pe 8 septembrie la Sankt Petersburg (toate biletele au fost epuizate), iar al doilea va avea loc la Praga doua zile mai tarziu.

12. In pregatirea Cupei Mondiale, Finlanda si Suedia s-au intalnit la Helsinki, intr-un meci amical. Amfitrionii au castigat cu 3-2, goluri Barkov, Granlund, Maata, respectiv L.Eriksson, Soderberg.

13. La Sankt Petersburg, in prezenta a 6000 de spectatori, Rusia a castigat cu 4-3 in fata Cehiei. Au marcat: Panarin, Tarasenko, Kucherov, Dadonov - Kempny, Hanzal, Polak.

14. Intr-un joc de verificare pentru Cupa Mondiala, North America U 23 a invins cu 4-0 Team Europe, goluri MacKinnon (2), Nugent-Hopkins si Gaudreau.