The International Ice Hockey Hall of Famer was in Dunedin yesterday to help promote an exhibition series between a team from the United States and Canada selection side and told the Otago Daily Times the fans could expect to see some high quality hockey.
"People always ask `are the big stars coming?"' Goulet said.
"We have to be realistic and fair to everyone [and say] we are bringing the best 22 players that are available.""You have to realise it is the summer for us and a lot of the players are getting ready for their upcoming season," the Canadian said.
"But I can tell you right now these are the best players you're ever going to see on these soils.
We've hand-picked them and I'm going to make sure that every player that is here is going to take the time and energy to spend time with the hockey fans and with the general public."
Goulet said the former NHL star Aaron Miller would captain the US invitational side while the Canadian team would be led by Derek Armstrong. Miller made 677 appearances in the NHL, mostly for the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings, and Armstrong amassed 477 games in the NHL.
The pair, who are both in their late 30s, replace Colorado Avalanche defender Kyle Quincey, who had been lined up to captain the Canadian side, and Atlanta Thrashers centre Rob Schremp.
Despite the changes, the fans do not appear to have been put off. The match at Vector Arena in Auckland on July 23 is a sell-out, event director Craig Douglas said. And more than half the seats at the 8900-seat CBS Arena in Christchurch and 4000-seat Dunedin Ice Stadium have been sold.
Goulet grew up playing ice hockey where the sport is imprinted on the nation's psyche, much in the same way rugby is in New Zealand. But he is confident spectators will find the sport thrilling.
"When you get to see the sport live you get to see the blood, the sweat, the tears.
"And that just makes it that much more attractive."
At the indoor venues in Auckland and Christchurch the teams will play on a rink which has been shipped from the Netherlands. It is a demanding logistical exercise.
The $4.2 million rink will arrive in the country in about three weeks and fills nine shipping containers. When it is assembled it will be 56m by 26m and will require about 200,000 litres of water. The giant puddle takes about 72 hours to freeze and then it is good to go.
