Prospect Game Rosters

Press Release

Oshawa, ON – The Canadian Hockey League in association with the Ontario Hockey League and the Oshawa Generals Hockey Club today announced the rosters for the 2009 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. The event will showcase 40 of the top CHL players eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft beginning with a thrilling skills competition on Tuesday January 13, 2009, with the game taking place Wednesday January 14, 2009, at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa, Ontario.

The rosters, which are selected by the 30 NHL General Managers and NHL Central Scouting, include two players that will be representing Canada at the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships. John Tavares from the Oshawa Generals and Ryan Ellis from the Windsor Spitfires will be striving for gold prior to this showcase in January. The rosters also include Jared Cowen of the Spokane Chiefs and Evander Kane of the Vancouver Giants who are the top two prospects in the WHL as named by NHL Central Scouting in their preliminary draft rankings released in November. Simon Després of the Saint John Sea Dogs and Dimitry Kulikov of the Drummondville Voltigeurs represent the top two participating QMJHL prospects.

The 2008 event held in Edmonton, Alberta, featured 20 players that were selected in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft including Steven Stamkos who was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Michael Del Zotto of the Oshawa Generals also participated in the game before being selected in the first round, 20th overall by the New York Rangers. NHL stars such as Patrick Kane, Dion Phaneuf, Roberto Luongo, Patrick Marleau, Scott Gomez, and Marc-Andre Fleury all participated in the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

Home Hardware continues as the title sponsor of the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game for the tenth straight year. Associate sponsors include ADT, Boston Pizza, Bank of Montreal, and CCM/RBK. The game will be broadcast nationally live on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS.

Tickets to the 2009 Home Hardware Top Prospects Skills Competition and Game will be sold together in one package at one price of $49 including all taxes and can be purchased in-person at the General Motors Centre Ticket Office. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.generalmotorscentre.com or by phone at 1-877-436-8811. More information can be found at the official event website: http://homehardwaretopprospectsgame.com

The following are the rosters for the 2009 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game:

Team # 1 Forwards (12)	CHL Club
Ryan O'Reilly	Erie Otters (OHL)
Brayden Schenn	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
Peter Holland	Guelph Storm (OHL)
Scott Glennie	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
Michael Latta	Guelph Storm (OHL)
Taylor Beck	Guelph Storm (OHL)
Cody Eakin	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
Tomas Vincour	Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
Levko Koper	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
David Gilbert	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
Philippe Paradis	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
John Tavares	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
Defencemen (6)	CHL Club
Jared Cowen	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
Brayden McNabb	Kootenay Ice (WHL)
Tommi Kivisto	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
Ryan Ellis	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
Charles-Olivier Roussel	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
Calvin de Haan	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
Goaltenders (2)	CHL Club
Olivier Roy	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
Scott Stajcer	Owen Sound Attack (OHL)

Team # 2 Forwards (12)	CHL Club
Matt Duchene	Brampton Battalion (OHL)
Alex Hutchings	Barrie Colts (OHL)
Andrej Nestrasil	Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
Landon Ferraro	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
Zack Kassian	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
Carter Ashton	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
Evander Kane	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
Jimmy Bubnick	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
Ethan Werek	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
Jordan Caron	Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)
Michal Hlinka	Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
Nazem Kadri	London Knights (OHL)
Defencemen (6)	CHL Club
Taylor Doherty	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
Stefan Elliott	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
Tyson Barrie	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
Dmitry Kulikov	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
Éric Gélinas	Lewsiton MAINEiacs (QMJHL)
Simon Després	Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)
Goaltenders (2)	CHL Club
Nathan Lieuwen	Kootenay Ice (WHL)
Edward Pasquale	Saginaw Spirit (OHL)

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)