Growing scepticism about the strength of both teams before the forthcoming invitational ice hockey series has forced the promoters into announcing the line-ups ahead of schedule.
The finalised United States and Canadian squads were to be announced upon the players' arrival on July 21, but "mounting pressure from fans and sceptics alike" led promoter Douglas Webber Events to release the full team lists on Wednesday.
Nine of the 22 players named to play in the series have National Hockey League experience, including US captain Aaron Miller, who has played in 677 NHL games.
The US team has former Stanley Cup-winning goaltender John "Great Wall" Grahame between the pipes, and has also named Bates Battaglia to start at forward with his 80 NHL goals.
Canadian captain Derek Armstrong has 477 NHL games under his belt, and will be joined by Mark Hartigan, Kevin Doell, Aaron MacKenzie, Cam Paddock and Brad Smyth, who have all played various amounts in the world's toughest league.
The series is being promoted as the biggest action sport event New Zealand has seen and will be played on a custom-built rink, to be melted down and transported by road after each fixture.
The final game will be held at the Ice Stadium, in Dunedin, on August 3, with the series winner to be determined by the team with the highest point tally (goals plus assists) across all three games.
