Canadian Hockey League Announces Rosters for the 2009 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game

Oshawa, ON – The Canadian Hockey League in association with the Ontario Hockey League and the Oshawa Generals Hockey Club today announced the rosters for the 2009 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.  The event will showcase 40 of the top CHL players eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft beginning with a thrilling skills competition on Tuesday January 13, 2009, with the game taking place Wednesday January 14, 2009, at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa, Ontario.

The rosters, which are selected by the 30 NHL General Managers and NHL Central Scouting, include two players that will be representing Canada at the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships.  John Tavares from the Oshawa Generals and Ryan Ellis from the Windsor Spitfires will be striving for gold prior to this showcase in January.  The rosters also include Jared Cowen of the Spokane Chiefs and Evander Kane of the Vancouver Giants who are the top two prospects in the WHL as named by NHL Central Scouting in their preliminary draft rankings released in November.  Simon Després of the Saint John Sea Dogs and Dimitry Kulikov of the Drummondville Voltigeurs represent the top two participating QMJHL prospects.

The 2008 event held in Edmonton, Alberta, featured 20 players that were selected in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft including Steven Stamkos who was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Michael Del Zotto of the Oshawa Generals also participated in the game before being selected in the first round, 20th overall by the New York Rangers.  NHL stars such as Patrick Kane, Dion Phaneuf, Roberto Luongo, Patrick Marleau, Scott Gomez, and Marc-Andre Fleury all participated in the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

Home Hardware continues as the title sponsor of the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game for the tenth straight year.  Associate sponsors include ADT, Boston Pizza, Bank of Montreal, and CCM/RBK.  The game will be broadcast nationally live on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS.

Tickets to the 2009 Home Hardware Top Prospects Skills Competition and Game will be sold together in one package at one price of $49 including all taxes and can be purchased in-person at the General Motors Centre Ticket Office.  Tickets may also be purchased online at www.generalmotorscentre.com or by phone at 1-877-436-8811.  More information can be found at the official event website:  http://homehardwaretopprospectsgame.com

The following are the rosters for the 2009 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game:

Pictured is CHL President David Branch, Peter Holland of the Guelph Storm, Zack Kassian of the Peterborough Petes, and NHL Central Scouting Director E.J McGuire at the roster announcement in Oshawa, ON.