Penguins' Hagelin, Hornqvist added to Team Sweden

[May 28, 2016]  The Sports Xchange
 
 Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist, one day after their team advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, were named to Team Sweden for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

The Penguins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday night.

Hagelin and Hornqvist were among two of the final seven players named to the roster Friday. Hagelin has five goals and seven assists in the playoffs while Hornqvist has seven goals and four assists.

The eight teams competing in the World Cup of Hockey started announcing their final roster selections Friday.

Team Finland, Team Russia and Team Czech Republic got the day started by naming their complete, 23-man rosters (20 skaters and three goaltenders).

Team USA, Team North America, Team Canada and Team Europe will announce their rosters later Friday.

The tournament will be played Sept. 17 to Oct. 1 in Toronto.

The World Cup of Hockey is a joint effort of the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association, in cooperation with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The eight teams are split into two Groups, Group A and Group B, for the preliminary round (Sept. 17-22), when each team will play its three Group opponents in a round-robin format.

Placed in Group A are Team Canada, Team Czech Republic and Team USA, plus Team Europe, a pan-European roster of players from birth countries outside of the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden. The four teams in Group B are Team Finland, Team Russia, Team Sweden and Team North America, a selection of the top players from Canada and the United States who are 23 or under as of Oct. 1, 2016.

The top two finishers in each of Group A and Group B will advance to the semifinals (Sept. 24-25), where each qualifier will face an elimination game against a team from the other Group. The two semifinal winners will meet in the final, a best-of-three series on Sept. 27, Sept. 29 and, if necessary, Oct. 1.

TEAM FINLAND

Patrik Laine, expected to be one of the first players selected in the 2016 NHL draft, was one of seven players added to Team Finland's roster.

Laine, No. 2 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of international skaters, could be one of the top two players chosen in the draft, which will be held June 24-25 at First Niagara Center in Buffalo.
 

Forwards: Sebastian Aho, Karpat (FIN); Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers; Joonas Donskoi, San Jose Sharks; Valtteri Filppula, Tampa Bay Lightning; Mikael Granlund, Minnesota Wild; Erik Haula, Minnesota Wild; Jussi Jokinen, Florida Panthers; Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild; Leo Komarov, Toronto Maple Leafs; Lauri Korpikoski, Edmonton Oilers; Patrik Laine, Tappara (FIN); Jori Lehtera, St. Louis Blues; Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago Blackhawks.

Defensemen: Jyrki Jokipakka, Calgary Flames; Sami Lepisto, Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL); Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars; Olli Maatta, Pittsburgh Penguins; Ville Pokka, Chicago Blackhawks; Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres; Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks.

Goalies: Mikko Koskinen, SKA St. Petersburg (KHL); Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins; Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators.

TEAM RUSSIA

Defensemen Alexei Emelin of the Montreal Canadiens, Alexey Marchenko of the Detroit Red Wings and Nikita Zaitsev, who signed this month with the Toronto Maple Leafs, were the only NHL players among the final seven named to Team Russia.

The four other players added to the roster play in the Kontinental Hockey League: forwards Evgeny Dadonov of SKA Saint Petersburg, Vadim Shipachyov of SKA and Ivan Telegin of CSKA Moscow and defenseman Slava Voynov of SKA.

Forwards: Artem Anisimov, Chicago Blackhawks; Evgeny Dadonov, SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL); Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings; Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning; Nikolay Kulemin, New York Islanders; Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals; Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins; Vladislav Namestnikov, Tampa Bay Lightning; Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals; Artemi Panarin, Chicago Blackhawks; Vadim Shipachyov, SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL); Ivan Telegin, CSKA Moscow (KHL); Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues.

Defensemen: Alexei Emelin, Montreal Canadiens; Dmitry Kulikov, Florida Panthers; Alexey Marchenko, Detroit Red Wings; Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens; Dmitry Orlov, Washington Capitals; Slava Voynov, SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL); Nikita Zaitsev, Toronto Maple Leafs.

Goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets; Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche; Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning

TEAM CZECH REPUBLIC

Team Czech Republic will have some family ties when it takes part in the World Cup of Hockey. Among the final seven players added to the roster for the tournament were two brothers -- forward Milan Michalek (Toronto Maple Leafs) and defenseman Zbynek Michalek (Arizona Coyotes).

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

Defensemen: Radko Gudas, Philadelphia Flyers; Michal Jordan, Carolina Hurricanes; Michal Kempny, Chicago Blackhawks; Zbynek Michalek, Arizona Coyotes; Jakub Nakladal, Calgary Flames; Roman Polak, San Jose Sharks; Andrej Sustr, Tampa Bay Lightning.

Goalies: Petr Mrazek, Detroit Red Wings; Michal Neuvirth, Philadelphia Flyers; Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg Jets.

TEAM SWEDEN

Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg and Chicago Blackhawks forward Marcus Kruger also were named to the roster.

Forwards: Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals; Loui Eriksson, Boston Bruins; Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators; Patric Hornqvist, Pittsburgh Penguins; Carl Hagelin, Pittsburgh Penguins; Marcus Kruger, Chicago Blackhawks; Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche; Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks; Carl Soderberg, Colorado Avalanche; Alexander Steen, St. Louis Blues; Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings.

Defensemen: Mattias Ekholm, Nashville Predators; Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes; Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning; Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks; Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators; Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings; Anton Stralman, Tampa Bay Lightning.

Goalies: Robin Lehner, Buffalo Sabres; Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers; Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks.

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