Avs notes: Sacco, players to participate in World Championship

Colorado Avalanche forward T.J. Galiardi will join his coach, Joe Sacco, on Team USA when they compete in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship May 7th thru 23rd.

Galiardi finished 6th among NHL rookies in scoring in 2009-10, his first full NHL season.This will be his
first International tournament as a professional

Sacco will be an assistant coach for Team USA, whose head coach will be Scott Gordon of the New York Islanders.

The Avs other representative at the World Championship will be Matt Duchene, who will play on Team Canada.
Duchene was the leading scorer among NHL rookies and is a finalist for the NHL Rookie of the Year award.

NHL players whose teams did not qualify for the playoffs or have been eliminated are eligible to play in the 16 team tournament.

In other news:

Tyson Barrie, a 2009 draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche, was named winner of the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy, presented to the defenseman of the year in the major junior Western Hockey League.
Barrie, who played for the Kelowna Rockets, will turn 19 July 26th. He is 5’10″, 190 pounds. He tied for first in scoring among WHL defensemen with 19 goals and 53 assists for 72 points in 63 games. For the season his plus/minus rating was +11.
The Avalanche selected Barrie in the third round, 64th overall pick, in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Bruce Wilkie is a Colorado semi-native, having moved to Denver in 1971. He has worked with pro and college hockey teams since 1975 and now covers the Avs for thehockeywriters.com.