Press Release
DUBUQUE, Iowa- The Clark Cup Champion
Dubuque Fighting Saints are headed overseas for a chance to prove they
are the world's best. The Fighting Saints announced today they have
accepted an invitation to play in the 2013 Junior Club World Cup
international tournament in Omsk, Russia. The third-annual tournament is
sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation and will take
place August 24-31.
The tournament features junior
hockey teams from all over the world including the returning Junior Club World Cup champion
Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Junior Hockey League. The tournament
includes teams from eight countries, including Belarus, Canada, the
Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Sweden, and the USA. Teams
invited to the tournament are top talent, as most had previously claimed
their league or division championship including the host team, the Omsk
Hawks.
"We're honored to receive an invitation to the
Junior Club World Cup in Omsk," said Dubuque Fighting Saints President
Dan Lehv. "For our organization to be showcased on this international
stage is incredibly exciting. We are proud to represent the United
States Hockey League and the City of Dubuque in the third annual event.
Our players, coaches and staff are looking forward to the experience of
a lifetime."
The USHL will be represented in the event
for a second straight year. In 2012, the Clark Cup runner-up Waterloo
Black Hawks participated in the tournament and won the silver medal,
advancing to the championship game where they fell to Sudbury 2-0. The
Black Hawks and its staff have been extremely helpful in providing
travel details and information on the trip to help Dubuque prepare for
what is ahead overseas.
The Fighting Saints plan to
fly to Moscow on August 20 or 21. The Fighting Saints will look into
possibly scheduling an exhibition game or two while in Russia's capital.
The team will then fly to Omsk on August 22 to prepare for the
tournament and get accustomed to its new surroundings.
Dubuque
will be seeded in Group A along with the Omsk Hawks, Vitkovice Steel
from the Czech Republic, and HC Riga from Latvia. Group A will play and
train at the Omsk Arena, a 10,318-seat facility opened in 2007 that
houses Avagard Omsk, a professional hockey team in the KHL.
Group
B will play at the smaller 5,500 seat Sports-Concerts Complex Viktora
Blinova and will be composed of Sudbury, HV 71 from Sweden, HPK from
Finland, and Dynamo-Shinnik from Belarus.
Dubuque will
open the tournament against HC Riga. The next day they will continue
play with a matchup against the Vitkovice Steel. After a day off, the
Fighting Saints will battle with the hometown Omsk Hawks. Semi-final
play will take place the following day, with the championship game and
bronze medal game being played on August 31.
Omsk is
the seventh largest city in Russia and is located in southwestern
Siberia. The city has a population of over 1.1 million people and is
located 1,700 miles from Moscow.
The Fighting Saints
are coming off a franchise best 45-11-8 season that saw them claim the
Anderson Cup, the USHL's regular season title, as well as the earn the
Clark Cup Championship with a 3-0 series sweep of the Fargo Force in the
Final. Information on how to follow the team in Russia, as well as a
complete 2013-2014 season schedule will be available later this summer.
(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)
Monday, May 27, 2013
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