Spengler Cup, Familiar faces

The Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland kicks off today. I have always been somewhat interested in this tournament due to some of the names that resurface. Also, the rink in Davos is a spectacular looking facility that looks great on TV. Team Canada is usually a cobbled together "all-star" squad of players toiling away in the Swiss League. A look at this year's rosters seems to show even more recognizable names than normal.

Moscow Spartak
Dominik Hasek,12-16-3, 2.68, 3 SO
One month shy of his 46th birthday, The Dominator continues to ply his trade for the sub.500 KHL squad.
Branko Radivojevic, 38-5-16-21
His third year in the KHL after scoring 120 points in 393 NHL games. Last season he
finished 7th in league scoring with 54 points.
SKA St.Petersburg
Mattias Weinhandl, 37-18-19-37
The ex-Islander and Wild sits 5th in KHL scoring the same spot he finished last year with 60 points.
Alexei Yashin, 35-11-14-25
After finishing 3rd in scoring, two points off the lead last year, it appears old man time has started to catch up with the 37 year old.
Maxim Afinogenov, 37-9-15-24
Not quite the season that was expected of a guy who had 61 points for the Thrashers last year.
Geneva Servette
Brian Pothier, 30-4-17-21
Veteran of 362 NHL games including Washington and Carolina last year, Pothier is one of the top scoring d-men in the Swiss circuit.
Richard Park, 31-12-12-24
34 year old vet of 684 NHL matches played the last four seasons with the New York Islanders.
Sparta Prague
David Vyborny, 34-6-6-12
The 35 year old is playing for Sparta Praha for his tenth total season of the last nineteen. He played seven full years with the Columbus Blue Jackets scoring 317 points in 543 games.
HC Davos
Reto Von Arx, 36-14-22-36
In his fifteenth season with Davos Von Arx had one year stint with Chicago and their farm team Norolk in 2000-01. Other than that, he is a consitent point-per-game producer in the Swiss league.
Canada
Mark Bell, 36-13-8-21, Kloten
Back to back 20 goal seasons for Chicago in the mid-2000s, Bell is in his second year playing in Europe.
Josh Holden, 29-13-24-37, Zug
Ex-Canuck and Leaf, in his sixth season as a consistent top scorer in the Swiss league.
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, 4-5-2, 3.34, Oklahoma City AHL
He of 48 NHL games last year is on loan from the Oilers farm team.
Martin Kariya, 25-4-12-16, Ambri-Piotta
The 29 year old undrafted brother of Paul Kariya is in his third year playing in Europe after scorin 53 points in the AHL in 2007-08.


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