Team Germany and Kazakhstan men's roster for Turin announced
Germany and Kazakhstan come to the XX Olympic Winter Games ranked as
number 8 and 11 respectively, but they have valid hopes of pulling off
some surprises, primarily thanks to world class goaltending. Germany
announced today that 35-year old NHL-veteran Olaf Kolzig of
the Washington Capitals will lead their 23-man roster in Turin, while
Kazakhstan will rely on 26-year old Vitaliy Kolesnik, who has earned
the starting position with the NHL Colorado Avalanche after a strong
showing at the 2005 IIHF World Championship in Austria.
Germany (8th place finisher in Salt Lake City 2002) brings a team which
is a blend of international experience and youth. 33-year old veteran
forward Jan Benda (Litvinov, Czech league) leads a group that includes
Marco Sturm (Boston Bruins), Jochen Hecht (Buffalo Sabres), Marcel Goc
(San Jose Sharks) and defensemen Christian Ehrhoff (San Jose Sharks),
Christoph Schubert (Ottawa Senators) and Dennis Seidenberg
(Philadelphia Flyers).
The team, led by new head coach Uwe Krupp, includes 17 players who represented Germany in the World Cup of Hockey 2004.
Germany plays its first game against the reigning IIHF World Champion
Czech Republic on opening day, February 15, which means that forward
and Czech native Tomas Martinec (son of former Czechoslovak hockey
great and three-time Olympian, Vladimir) will play against his former
country for the first time in Olympic competition.
The Kazakh team (did not participate in Salt Lake City-02) features 13
players from the Russian Superleague and seven who represent the
perennial national champion Kazzinc-Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk. The team
includes Toronto Maple Leaf forward Nikolay Antropov.
Kazakhstan plays Sweden in the opening game of the men's Olympic tournament, at 11.30 on February 15.
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