POSTED: Tuesday April 7th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TEAM USA TO DEFEND WORLD TITLE AS UNIVERSAL SPORTS BROADCASTS 2009 IIHF WOMEN’S WORLD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Gold Medal Game Live Sunday, 12 Noon, ET

       TV and Live Online Coverage start Thursday at 4 p.m. ET


       LOS ANGELES – April 6, 2009 – Defending world champion Team USA takes to the ice against the world\‘s best as a preview to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games as Universal Sports presents 10 hours of coverage of the 2009 IIHF Women\‘s World Hockey Championships from Hameenlinna, Finland, including live coverage of the gold medal match on Sunday at 12 noon, ET.  Coverage begins with the qualifying round Thursday at 4 p.m. ET.

The Universal Sports broadcast team consists of Emmy-award winning announcer Ari Wolfe (play-by-play), and Olympic gold and silver medalist in women\‘s hockey, game analyst A.J. Mleczko Griswold.

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Coverage will begin with a qualifying round game on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET and will continue through to the medal matches. The gold medal game will be shown live on Universal Sports on Sunday at 12 Noon, ET.
Universal Sports, available in 45 million homes, will present over 10 hours of coverage starting Thursday (all times ET and Same-day coverage except for Final):
Date            Events                                                                  Time

Thurs.          Qualifying Round Game #15                       4 – 6:30 p.m.
Fri.            Qualifying Round Game #18                       4 – 6:30 p.m.
Sun.            Bronze Medal Game #19                   9 – 11:30 a.m.*
Gold Medal Game #20 – LIVE              12 – 3 p.m.

LIVE COVERAGE ON UNIVERSALSPORTS.COM: UniversalSports.com will cover the entire women\‘s tournament, starting on April 4, with breaking news, results and photo galleries.  The site will offer the following IIHF events live, and free-of-charge starting Thursday at 12 Noon, ET.  Log onto UniversalSports.com/hockey for the complete schedule. (All times ET and LIVE):


Date            Events                                                                  Time

Thurs.          Qualifying Round Game #15                       12 – 2:30 p.m.
Fri.            Qualifying Round Game #18                       12 – 2:30 p.m.
Sun.            Bronze Medal Game #19                   8 – 10:30 a.m.*
Gold Medal Game #20                     12 – 3 p.m.

*Bronze medal game to be broadcast only if Team USA is competing
**Schedules subject to change, coverage available only in the U.S. and territories.

ABOUT THE ATHLETES: The 2009 Women\‘s National Team is made up of 21 women, 16 of which were a part of the 2008 Championship team.  The five new players include goaltender Megan Van Beusekom, twin sisters: Jocelyne Lamoureux and Monique Lamoureux, and defensemen Lisa Chesson and Helen Resor.  Returning to the team is starting goalie Jessie Vetter who had 21 saves against Canada during the championship game that won the U.S. the gold medal in 2008. Three of Vetter\‘s teammates from the University of Wisconsin national championship team were also named to this 2009 roster.

TEAM USA ROSTER: USA Hockey named the following players to the 2009 U.S. team, including Head Coach Mark Johnson (Madison, Wis.) and Assistant Coaches Dave Flint (Manchester, N.H.) and Jodi McKenna (Middletown, Conn.). Johnson will also serve as the head coach for Team USA at the 2010 Winter Games. Sixteen of the 20 members of the 2008 U.S. Women\‘s World Champion Team return to the 2009 team.

Name                                                            Hometown
Goaltenders
Molly Schaus                                                    Natick, Massachusetts
Megan Van Beusekom                                      Loretto, Minnesota
Jessie Vetter                                                   Cottage Grove, Wisconsin
Defensemen
Kacey Bellamy                                           Westfield, Massachusetts
Caitlin Cahow                                                   Branford, Connecticut
Lisa Chesson                                                    Plainfield, Illinois
Molly Engstrom                                          Siren, Wisconsin
Helen Resor                                                     Greenwich, Connecticut
Angela Ruggiero                                         Harper Woods, Michigan
Kerry Weiland                                                   Palmer, Alaska
Forwards
Julie Chu                                                       Fairfield, Connecticut
Natalie Darwitz                                         Eagan, Minnesota
Meghan Duggan                                           Danvers, Massachusetts
Hilary Knight                                                   Hanover, New Hampshire
Jocelyne Lamoureux                                              Grand Forks, North Dakota
Monique Lamoureux                                               Grand Forks, North Dakota
Erika Lawler                                                    Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Gigi Marvin                                                     Warroad, Minnesota
Jenny Potter                                                    Edina, Minnesota
Kelli Stack                                                     Brooklyn Heights, Ohio
Karen Thatcher                                          Blaine, Washington

2009 IIHF MEN\‘S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Universal Sports will also provide TV and online coverage of the Men\‘s Hockey Tournament, from Berne and Zurich-Kloten, Switzerland, from April 24 – May 10, 2009. Teams competing include last year\‘s champion Russia, as well as Canada, USA, Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, previewing the Olympic hockey tournament at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

ABOUT UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on television and online. Universal Sports is a 24-hour television channel available in 45 million television households in markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Reno and Omaha. Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit UniversalSports.com

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For more information, please contact:
Melisa Mowry
Universal Sports
240.396.1906
mmowry@wcsn.com

       Members of the media can get more information about NBC Universal and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at www.nbcumv.com.

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Keywords · NBC · IIHF WOMEN’S WORLD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Name: Adam Freifeld
Organization: NBC
Email:
Phone: +1.212-664-6772

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