Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League today announced the coaching assignments for Hockey Hall of Fame member Bobby Orr and Hockey Night in Canada star Don Cherry at the 2009 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. The two-day event takes place at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa, Ontario beginning Tuesday January 13, 2009 at 7:00pm with the Skills Competition before the Top Prospects Game on Wednesday January 14, 2009 at 7:00pm.
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Orr, a three-time winner of the NHL’s Hart Memorial Trophy for Most Valuable Player, will coach the team featuring Team Canada World Junior Hockey Gold Medalist and Tournament MVP John Tavares. Team Orr will also consist of defenceman Calvin de Haan of the hometown Oshawa Generals, and Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires who is also fresh off of a Gold Medal winning performance at the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships. Team Orr will wear the red CHL jerseys.
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Team Cherry will don the white CHL jerseys and will feature Team Canada forward Evander Kane of the Vancouver Giants. Kane scored two goals and four assists for six points as part of the energy line that helped bring home the Gold Medal. QMJHL defencemen Simon Després of the Saint John Sea Dogs and Dmitry Kulikov of the Drummondville Voltigeurs will be the strength of the blue line for Team Cherry. Kulikov won a bronze medal with Team Russia at the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships.
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Assistant Coaches and support staff for both teams were also announced today. Behind the bench for Team Cherry will be Brian Kilrea and Bert O’Brien of the Ottawa 67’s. Kilrea, now in his final year behind the bench for the 67’s, is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and has the most wins of any coach in CHL history. Brian Miller (Peterborough Petes) will be the team’s trainer, and Russ Hammond (Guelph Storm) will be the equipment manager. Chris DePiero of the Oshawa Generals will be an assistant coach for Team Orr, with Ivan Bokanovic (Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors) and Bryan Boyes of the Generals serving as trainers.
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There will be extensive coverage of the 2009 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on Wednesday January 14 with Rogers Sportsnet and RDS broadcasting the game to a national television audience. INSINC will carry the game online. On the Radio, Toronto based AM 640 and AM 980 in London will carry the game with Durham Radio Stations CKDO 1580 and 107.7 FM also calling the game. The Skills Competition will air live on Rogers TV on Tuesday January 13.
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The 2009 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is the 14th edition of this event that features 40 of the CHL’s top prospects eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. All 20 CHL stars that were taken in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft participated in the 2008 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Edmonton, Alberta. The 2009 event will coincide with the NHL Central Scouting mid-term rankings that will be announced next week.
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Media accreditation is still available for this event by completing the attached form. There will be media scrums with player availability each day beginning Monday January 12, 2009.
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Tickets to each event are available for $24.50 each. Please visit the General Motors Centre Ticket Office to pick-up your tickets today or call go online at www.generalmotorscentre.com
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For more information please visit the event page at http://homehardwaretopprospectsgame.com/