Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
Many familiar AHL players will be spending the next week in Switzerland.
December on the international hockey calendar means the Swiss ski resort of Davos hosts the Spengler Cup. Hockey Canada fields a team in the six-team tournament each year and relies heavily on American Hockey League loan talent to fill out its roster. The Spengler Cup has been held for 97 years and is hockey's oldest international club championship.
Canada has 11 current AHL players on roster, including Rockford IceHogs captain Brett SaneyIn 29 games, he is one point behind the league scoring leader with 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists). Michel TherianHe served as head coach for seven seasons with AHL affiliates the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins, and also held the same position with Team Canada, where his staff also included assistant coaches Drew BannisterA former AHL coach for parts of six seasons with the St. Louis Blues, Bannister led the Springfield Thunderbirds to the 2022 Calder Cup Finals.
The Senes and Canada opened the season Friday with a 3-2 victory over the American College Draft. The tournament, which will run until New Year's Eve, also features hosts HC Davos and two Swiss clubs, HC Friborg-Gottron, IFK Helsinki (Finland) and HC Sparta Prague (Czech Republic).
Ontario Reign Captain Joe Hicketts will take over this role and lead Canada. Joining Hicketts on the Canadian leadership team is another AHL captain; Mason Shaw Manitoba Moose; Shaw will serve as alternate captain. springfield captain Matthew Pekar Also wearing Canadian red and white in Davos.
Canada's blueline has a particularly deep AHL feel. With Hicketts, the Canadian Defense Forces Karen Addison (Comet Utica), Nolan Allen (Rockford), Nicolas Brouillard (San Diego) and Jack Livingstone. The Canadian team's lineup includes Pekka, Saini and Shaw, Graeme Clark (Hershey), Jean-Luc Foudy (Iowa) and Anthony Richard (Lehigh Valley).
An invitation to the Spengler Cup means AHL players have the opportunity to represent their home country in international competition. While this is Saini's second consecutive year participating in the event, all other AHL talent made their debuts in the Spengler Cup. Canada has won the Spengler Cup 16 times since its debut in 1984, last winning the event in 2019.
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
