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Red Wings Daily: Detroit’s 2007-08 Stanley Cup Winner Well-Represented on Team USA Bench

Three members of the Detroit Red Wings’ 2007-08 Stanley Cup championship squad are participating in the IIHF World Championship quarterfinals

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2 years ago

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2007-8 Detroit Red Wings

When the USA Hockey squad takes the ice to face Switzerland in Thursday’s quarterfinals at the IIHF World Championship, current Detroit Red Wings players will be represented by Swiss center Pius Sutter and Team USA forward Riley Barber.

Off the ice, working tirelessly behind the USA Hockey bench, the 2007-08 Red Wings, the most recent Detroit club to win the Stanley Cup, will also have representation.

Current Wings athletic therapist Piet Van Zant is filling that role for the American squad. It’s his third tour of duty at the IIHF Worlds. Van Zant served previous stints with the bronze-medal winning 2021 team as well as the 2019 squad.

Trainer of the Red Wings since the 1999-2000 season, Van Zant was part of the 2007-08 Stanley Cup championship squad.

Chris “Frosty” Scoppetto, the Team USA equaipment manager, was filling that role with the 2007-08 Wings during the Cup-winning campaign. He’s currently the equipment manager with the New Jersey Devils.

Former Detroit defenseman and later assistant coach Brad McCrimmon was the one who tagged Scoppetto with the Frosty nickname. It was while Scoppetto was serving as an assistant equipment manager in Phoenix. As the story goes, while Scoppetto was serving as assistant equipment manager with the Phoenix Coyotes, he was always seen alongside Coyotes player Keith Tkachuk. McCrimmon thought it was similar to how Bruins trainer John “Frosty” Forrestall was always with Bobby Orr.

Red Wings All Over IIHF Worlds

There will be Detroit players on the ice in three of the four world tourney quarterfinal games. Defenseman Moritz Seider is suiting up for Germany against Jakub Vrana, Filip Hronek and Czechia. Sweden’s Magnus Hellberg is playing against Canada.

While there’s no current Red Wings in the Finland-Slovakia game, Valtteri Filppula, another member of the 2007-08 Wings, is on Finland’s roster.

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