130 AHL alumni in World Championships

updated May 4

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … While the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs march on, hockey’s annual IIHF World Championships are being held in Bratislava and Kosice, Slovakia. The rosters for the tournament, which began Friday, feature 129 American Hockey League graduates representing their countries and competing for medals.

All 16 participating countries have at least one AHL alumnus on board and the list includes 20 former American Hockey League All-Stars, among them 2010 AHL goaltender of the year Jonathan Bernier (Canada), 2005 AHL MVP Jason Spezza (Canada), Tomas Plekanec (Czech Republic), Patrik Elias (Czech Republic), Mikko Koivu (Finland), Jaroslav Halak (Slovakia), Pavol Demitra (Slovakia), Ryan Shannon (United States) and Mike Komisarek (United States).

Twenty-three participants played in the American Hockey League during the 2010-11 season including Canada’s Marc-Andre Gragnani, who won the Eddie Shore Award as the outstanding defenseman in the AHL playing for Portland this season; United States defenseman Clay Wilson, who represented the Rochester Americans at the 2011 AHL All-Star Classic; and Toronto Marlies teammates James Reimer (Canada), Korbinian Holzer (Germany) and Marcel Mueller (Germany). Connecticut’s Ryan McDonagh (United States), Grand Rapids’ Sergei Kolosov (Belarus), San Antonio’s Mikkel Boedker (Denmark), Lake Erie’s Jonas Holos (Norway), Rockford’s Mathis Olimb (Norway) and Albany’s Mattias Tedenby (Sweden), Mark Fayne (United States) and Nick Palmieri (United States) are also competing.

The rosters also feature former Calder Cup champions Mikhail Grabovski (Belarus), Andrei Kostitsyn (Belarus), Sami Lepisto (Finland), Arturs Kulda (Latvia), Ondrej Pavelec (Czech Republic), Zbynek Michalek (Czech Republic), Staffan Kronwall (Sweden) and Rickard Wallin (Sweden).

AHL experience can be found behind the bench as well, where former Louis A.R. Pieri Award winners Scott Gordon (head coach, USA), Glen Hanlon (head coach, Slovakia) and Scott Arniel (assistant coach, Canada) are helping lead their countries. Germany head coach Uwe Krupp, Switzerland head coach Sean Simpson, Austria assistant Emanuel Viveiros and Finland assistant Pasi Nurminen all won Calder Cup championships during their AHL playing careers.

AHL Alumni on World Championship Rosters (as of 5/2/11)

Austria (3)
Oliver Setzinger, F
Matthias Tratnig, D
Darcy Werenka, D

Belarus (5)
Vladimir Denisov, D
Mikhail Grabovski, F
Sergei Kolosov, F
Andrei Kostitsyn, F
Andrei Mezin, G

Canada (16)
*Jonathan Bernier, G
Brent Burns, D
Cal Clutterbuck, F
Carlo Colaiacovo, D
Devan Dubnyk, G
Jordan Eberle, F
†*Marc-Andre Gragnani, D
Andrew Ladd, F
Marc Methot, D
James Neal, F
Alex Pietrangelo, D
James Reimer, G
Mario Scalzo, D
*Jason Spezza, F
Chris Stewart, F
Travis Zajac, F

Czech Republic (12)
*Patrik Elias, F
Petr Hubacek, F
Lukas Krajicek, D
Radek Martinek, D
Milan Michalek, F
Zbynek Michalek, D
Jiri Novotny, F
Ondrej Pavelec, G
*Tomas Plekanec, F
Petr Prucha, F
Karel Rachunek, D
Martin Skoula, D

Denmark (4)
Mikkel Boedker, F
Morten Madsen, F
Kim Staal, F
Kirill Starkov, F

Finland (12)
Jarkko Immonen, F
Niko Kapanen, F
*Mikko Koivu, F
Lasse Kukkonen, D
Janne Lahti, F
Sami Lepisto, D
Janne Niskala, D
Petteri Nokelainen, F
Janne Pesonen, F
Antti Pihlstrom, F
Mika Pyorala, F
Anssi Salmela, D

France (1)
Cristobal Huet, G

Germany (7)
Robert Dietrich, D
Philip Gogulla, F
Korbinian Holzer, D
Marcel Mueller, F
Dimitri Patzold, G
Felix Schutz, F
*John Tripp, F

Latvia (5)
Arturs Kulda, D
Jekabs Redlihs, D
Krisjanis Redlihs, D
Arvid Rekis, D
*Herbert Vasiljevs, F

Norway (4)
Jonas Holos, D
Marius Holtet, F
Mathis Olimb, F
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, D

Russia (8)
Maxim Afinogenov, F
Evgeny Artyukhin, F
*Dmitri Kalinin, D
Nikolai Kulemin, F
Evgeni Nabokov, G
Alexander Radulov, F
Fedor Tyutin, D
Sergei Zinovjev, F

Slovakia (18)
Ivan Baranka, D
*Lubos Bartecko, F
*Pavol Demitra, F
*Jaroslav Halak, G
Peter Hamerlik, G
Marcel Hossa, F
*Michal Handzus, F
Milan Jurcina, D
Jan Lasak, G
*Ladislav Nagy, F
Peter Podhradsky, D
Branko Radivojevic, F
Stefan Ruzicka, F
Miroslav Satan, F
Martin Strbak, D
Jozef Stumpel, F
Tomas Surovy, F
Richard Zednik, F

Slovenia (1)
Tomaz Razingar, F

Sweden (11)
Mikael Backlund, F
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D
Loui Eriksson, F
Erik Ersberg, G
Daniel Fernholm, D
Nicklas Grossman, D
Carl Gunnarsson, D
Staffan Kronwall, D
Robert Nilsson, F
Mattias Tedenby, F
Rickard Wallin, F

Switzerland (6)
Andres Ambuhl, F
Goran Bezina, D
Daniel Manzato, G
Luca Sbisa, D
Tobias Stephan, G
*Julien Vauclair, D

United States (17)
Mike Brown, F
Ty Conklin, G
Mark Fayne, D
Paul Gaustad, F
*Mike Komisarek, D
Ryan McDonagh, D
†*Al Montoya, G
Nick Palmieri, F
Chris Porter, F
*Ryan Shannon, F
Kevin Shattenkirk, D
*Jack Skille, F
Tim Stapleton, F
Yan Stastny, F
Mark Stuart, D
†*Clay Wilson, D

*indicates former AHL All-Star
†indicates player played in the AHL in 2010-11