| ***** | = Superstar |
| **** | = Good Player |
| *** | = Solid |
| ** | = A Chance |
| * | = Long Shot |
| Team | Player | Pos. | Height | Weight | Born | Team | Draft | My Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | Roberto Luongo | G | 6-2 | 185 | 04/04/79 | Val d'Or | NYI | *** |
| Canada | Eric Brewer | D | 6-3 | 196 | 04/17/79 | Prince George | NYI | *** |
| Canada | Brad Ference | D | 6-3 | 190 | 04/02/79 | Spokane | VAN | ** |
| Canada | Vincent Lecavalier | F | 6-4 | 180 | 04/21/80 | Rimouski | ***** | |
| Canada | Daniel Corso | F | 5-10 | 161 | 04/03/78 | Victoriaville | STL | ** |
| Canada | Manny Malhotra | F | 6-2 | 210 | 05/18/80 | Guelph | ** | |
| Canada | Jean-Pierre Dumont | F | 6-1 | 195 | 04/01/78 | Val d'Or | NYI | ** |
| Canada | Alex Tanguay | F | 6-0 | 180 | 11/21/79 | Halifax | ** | |
| Czechs | Pavel Skrbek | D | 6-4 | 200 | 08/09/78 | Kladno | PIT | *** |
| Czechs | Robert Schnabel | D | 6-6 | 224 | 11/10/78 | Red Deer | NYI | ** |
| Czechs | Patrik Stefan | C | 6-2 | 194 | 09/16/80 | Sparta | **** | |
| Czechs | Petr Sykora | C | 6-3 | 180 | 12/21/78 | Pardubice | DET | *** |
| Czechs | Marek Posmyk | D | 6-5 | 207 | 09/15/78 | Sarnia | TOR | ** |
| Czechs | Kamil Piros | C | 6-1 | 180 | 11/20/78 | Litvinov | BUF | ** |
| Finns | Mika Noronen | G | 6-1 | 205 | 06/17/79 | Tappara | BUF | ** |
| Finns | Eero Somervuori | F | 5-10 | 176 | 02/07/79 | Jokerit | TB | ** |
| Finns | Olli Jokinen | F | 6-2 | 196 | 05/12/78 | IFK | LA | **** |
| Finns | Ilkka Mikkola | D | 6-0 | 191 | 01/18/79 | Karpat | MTL | ** |
| Finns | Tomek Valtonen | F | 6-1 | 198 | 08/01/80 | Tampere | ** | |
| German | Sascha Goc | D | 6-2 | 211 | 04/14/79 | Schwennin | NJ | * |
| Kazaks | Nikolai Antropov | F | 6-3 | 180 | 02/18/80 | Torpedo | * | |
| Russia | Denis Khlopotnov | G | 6-3 | 187 | 01/27/78 | CSKA | FLA | * |
| Russia | Oleg Kvasha | F | 6-2 | 185 | 07/26/78 | FLA | *** | |
| Russia | Roman Lyashenko | C | 5-11 | 176 | 05/02/78 | Jaroslavl | DAL | *** |
| Russia | Denis Shvidky | F | 6-1 | 185 | 11/21/80 | Jaroslavl | ** | |
| Russia | Maxim Balmochnykh | F | 6-0 | 178 | 03/07/79 | Togliatti | ANA | *** |
| Russia | Maxim Afinogenov | F | 5-11 | 178 | 09/04/79 | Dynamo | BUF | ** |
| Russia | Mihail Chernov | D | 6-1 | 196 | 12/31/78 | Jaroslavl | PHI | * |
| Russia | Vitali Vishnevsky | D | 6-0 | 180 | 03/18/80 | Jaroslavl | ** | |
| Russia | Sergei Shikanov | F | 6-0 | 185 | 04/08/78 | Togliatti | CHI | ** |
| Slovak | Marian Cisar | F | 6-0 | 176 | 02/25/78 | Spokane | LA | *** |
| Slovak | Stanislav Gron | F | 6-1 | 183 | 10/28/78 | Seattle | NJ | ** |
| Slovak | Marian Hossa | F | 6-0 | 185 | 01/12/79 | Portland | OTT | **** |
| Slovak | Karol Bartanus | F | 6-1 | 189 | 06/06/78 | Drummondville | BOS | ** |
| Slovak | Andrej Podkonicky | C | 6-2 | 190 | 09/05/78 | Portland | * | |
| Slovak | Ladislav Harabin | D | 5-11 | 185 | 12/09/80 | Poprad | * | |
| Sweden | Johan Holmqvist | G | 6-1 | 200 | 05/24/78 | Brynas | NYR | ** |
| Sweden | Jonas Elofsson | D | 6-1 | 183 | 07/31/79 | Farjestad | EDM | ** |
| Sweden | Marcus Nilsson | F | 6-1 | 189 | 03/01/78 | Djurgarden | FLA | **** |
| Sweden | Kristian Huselius | F | 6-1 | 183 | 11/10/78 | Farjestad | FLA | ** |
| Sweden | Daniel Sedin | F | 6-1 | 183 | 09/26/80 | Modo | **** | |
| Sweden | Mikael Holmqvist | F | 6-3 | 196 | 06/08/79 | Farjestad | ANA | **** |
| Sweden | Henrik Sedin | F | 6-1 | 191 | 09/26/80 | Modo | **** | |
| Sweden | Mattias Karlin | F | 5-11 | 189 | 07/04/79 | Modo | BOS | ** |
| Swiss | Michael Riesen | F | 6-2 | 185 | 04/11/79 | Davos | EDM | **** |
| Swiss | Bjorn Christen | F | 6-0 | 178 | 04/05/80 | Bern | * | |
| U.S.A. | Jean-Marc Pelletier | G | 6-2 | 200 | 04/03/78 | Rimouski | PHI | ** |
| U.S.A. | Paul Mara | D | 6-4 | 205 | 09/07/79 | Sudbury | TB | ** |
| U.S.A. | Nikos Tselios | D | 6-2 | 186 | 01/20/79 | Plymouth | CAR | ** |
| U.S.A. | Chris Hajt | D | 6-4 | 210 | 07/05/78 | Guelph | EDM | ** |
| U.S.A. | David Legwand | F | 6-1 | 170 | 08/17/80 | Plymouth | **** | |
| U.S.A. | Scott Gomez | F | 5-11 | 170 | 12/23/79 | Tri-Cities | *** | |
| U.S.A. | Ty Jones | F | 6-3 | 215 | 02/22/79 | Spokane | CHI | ** |
|
January 30, 1998 Jokinen look-alike impressive By Mark Brender At the 1998 Viking Cup, scouts were calling Finnish forward Jani Rita this year's Olli Jokinen. It's heady praise for a 16-year-old not eligible until for selection until the 1999 NHL entry draft. Jokinen was chosen third overall last year by the Los Angeles Kings and also made a splash at the Camrose, Alta., tournament two years ago as a 16-year-old. Their similarities go beyond a common nationality; both are feisty, aggressive forwards-Rita a left winger, Jokinen a center-who can score as well as handle themselves physically. One scout who watched Rita at the Viking Cup said the 6-foot, 183 pounder is at this point a likely top-five pick in the 1999 draft, in the same class with the Swedish Sedin twin brothers, Henrik and Daniel. "He's a powerful guy," the scout said. "He gets in on goal and it's in the net. He's strong in all his movements on the ice. You couldn't help watching him all the time." Rita had four goals and six points in six games at the tournament, which pits all-stars from Saskatchewan and Alberta junior leagues and university players against European select teams made up mostly of 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds. The other player to impress scouts was lanky 6-foot-4, 170-pound Czech center Milan Kraft, who had four goals and five points in four games. Kraft, 17, is considered a probable first-rounder for the 1998 draft. |
