Alzner becomes captain Canada

NEWS RELEASES

HOCKEY CANADA

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Karl Alzner Named Canada’s Captain For 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship; Legein, Pyett, Marchand, Sutter Named Alternate Captains

CALGARY, AB – Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) announced on Friday that defenceman Karl Alzner (Burnaby, BC/ Calgary, WHL) will serve as Canada’s captain for the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship, the 27th captain in Canada’s National Junior Team’s history.

Defenceman Logan Pyett (Milestone, SK/ Regina, WHL) and forwards Stefan Legein (Oakville, ON/ Niagara, OHL), Brad Marchand (Hammonds Plains, NS/ Val d’Or, QMJHL) and Brandon Sutter (Red Deer, AB/ Red Deer, WHL) were named alternate captains. There will only be two alternates for each game, and these four players will rotate from game to game.

Alzner is one of two players with this year’s team who won gold medals at the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship. The native of Burnaby, BC is also captain with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. His international experience also includes a 7-0-1 record during the 2007 Canada/Russia Super Series, a gold medal with the 2005 National Summer Under-18 Team and a silver medal with Team Pacific at the 2005 World Under-17 Challenge.

All four alternates, Legein, Marchand, Pyett and Sutter were members of Canada’s National Junior Team for the Super Series against Russia in August/September 2007, with Sutter serving as an alternate at that time. Marchand was a teammate of Alzner’s at the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship, capturing a gold medal.

Canada will play its first game of the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship on Boxing Day, December 26th versus the Czech Republic at 2:00pm ET.

TSN, TSN HD and TSN.ca, as well as RDS, RDS HD and RDS .ca, will have live coverage of the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship, airing December 26 to January 5 from the Czech Republic. Coverage features 11 games, including all Team Canada matches and the medal round games. Following each Team Canada game, TSN.ca will stream a live post-game show. All games will also be available on-demand on TSN.ca throughout the duration of the tournament.

Team Canada games will also be broadcast LIVE on the FAN radio network (check local listings).

Canada has medaled in nine straight World Junior Championships including: gold medal performances in 2007, 2006 and 2005, silver medals in 2004, 2003, 2002, 1999 and bronze medals in 2001 and 2000.

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Hockey Canada and ITECH Announce ‘Design-A-Mask’ Contest Winners For 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship

(MONTREAL, QC) For the fifth consecutive year, ITECH and Hockey Canada invited children from across Canada to draw an original Canadian-themed mask design that will be worn by Team Canada’s goaltenders during the upcoming 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship in Liberec and Pardubice, Czech Republic from December 26, 2007 to January 5, 2008.

Based on the past success of the Design-A-Mask contest, which produced unique designs worn by the likes of Marc-André Fleury, Justin Pogge and Jeff Glass, this season’s competition again generated two winners; Morgen Schinnour of Drumheller, Alberta from the 13-and-Older category, and Gabriel Coughlan of St-Jean-Chrysostome, Quebec from 12-and-Under age group.

On top of the thrill of having their designs worn by Team Canada’s netminders, the two contest winners will also receive their very own duplicate, custom-painted ITECH mask, which will be autographed by members of Canada’s National Junior Team.

The Design-A-Mask contest was part of Hockey Canada’s kick off to the hockey season, Puck Drop ’07, which ran from September 8th to October 14th. Puck Drop ’07 was a national initiative led by Hockey Canada with participation from its 13 provincial Branches, minor hockey associations and partners to celebrate the start of the 2007-08 hockey season. Each year, 550,000 registered players’ lace up the skates to participate in hockey in Canada. In fact, on an annual basis, Hockey Canada welcomes close to 80,000 new participants, including players, coaches and officials.

About Hockey Canada

Hockey Canada is the sole governing body for amateur hockey in Canada, including overseeing the national development programs for minor hockey coaches, officials and players across the country, as well as the operation of Canada’s men’s and women’s national teams and national and international hockey events held in Canada.

About Mission-ITECH Hockey

Created in May 2004 following the merger of Mission Hockey and ITECH Sport Products Inc., Mission-ITECH Hockey Ltd. has quickly become a top-tier, trend-setting hockey equipment manufacturer that competes on the global market through its central headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. With two well-known and widely respected hockey brands, Mission and ITECH, the company boasts a long list of impressive professional athlete endorsements and league designations such as The Official Visor and Goalie Mask of the NHL and The Exclusive Facial Protection of Hockey Canada.

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