World Junior Hockey Stars Honored in ITG Heroes & Prospects

One of the most thrilling battles in the history of the IIHF World Junior Championship took place just two days ago, when Team USA brought home the gold medal after a hard-fought battle with a strong Canadian team.

Collectors will soon be able to obtain new cards honoring many of the players who took part in the annual tournament with the upcoming release of 2009-10 ITG Heroes and Prospects. Many of the players currently star in the AHL and CHL and come from several of the nations that participated.

“We want to offer our sincere congratulations to members of the American team on their gold medal victory,” said ITG President Dr. Brian Price. “Additionally, we also want to recognize the hard work of the Canadian players as they fought hard to force overtime and put forth an incredible effort. The Canadian team has been a force in recent years and they should be congratulated on their amazing streak of five consecutive titles.”

Team USA was loaded with many top prospects and the winning goal was scored in overtime by John Carlson of the Hershey Bears. While he does not appear in the base set, he is a part of the Calder Cup Champions collection as he saw action during the postseason in 2009. Included in the base set are Ryan Bourque of the Quebec Remparts, who is the son of Hall of Famer Raymond Bourque, and Cam Fowler of the Windsor Spitfires, who is considered a potential high first-round draft pick in 2010.

The Canadians were led by the amazing clutch play of tournament MVP Jordan Eberle of the Regina Pats; the Edmonton Oilers draftee will have several cards in the product, including autographs and game-used memorabilia cards. There are also many more of Canada’s stars in the base set including the potential top pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Taylor Hall of Windsor, Travis Hamonic (Moose Jaw Warriors), Marco Scandella (Val d’Or Foreurs), Ryan Ellis (Windsor), Nazem Kadri (London Knights), Brayden Schenn (Brandon Wheat Kings), Brandon McMillan (Kelowna Rockets), Luke Adam (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles), Jared Cowen (Spokane Chiefs), Calvin de Haan (Oshawa Generals), and Patrice Cormier and Jordan Caron of the Rimouski Oceanic.

2009-10 ITG Heroes and Prospects releases Jan. 27. For a complete checklist, visit In The Game’s website.