Dustin Ray Byfuglien ( /baɪfuːɡliən/ by-FOO-glee-ən or local /ˈbʌflɨn/ BUF-lin; born March 27, 1985) is an American professional ice hockey player and an alternate captain of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League. His known nickname is "Big Buff," made up by his teammates. Drafted as a defenseman, he has played both forward and defense in his career.

Byfuglien was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Cheryl Byfuglien and father Ricky Spencer. His mother is of Norwegian descent, and his father is African American. Cheryl moved to Roseau, Minnesota, with Dustin to be closer to her family while Ricky stayed in Minneapolis to continue college; the two never wed. In Roseau, Byfuglien was exposed to the game of hockey where he found an instant love for the sport, which soon turned into a calling. Byfuglien's stepfather, Dale Smedsmo, played four games in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1972, and 110 games in the World Hockey Association. Byfuglien has three half-siblings on his father's side.

Milan Lucic (born Vancouver, June 7, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger currently playing for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played major junior with the Vancouver Giants in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for three seasons and captured a Memorial Cup, while being named tournament MVP in 2007. He was selected 50th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and made the Bruins' roster as a nineteen-year-old in 2007–08. Three years later, he won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins. Internationally, he captained the Canadian national junior team at the 2007 Super Series. Lucic plays physically in the style of a power forward.

Lucic was born in East Vancouver to parents Dobrivoje Lučić and Snežana Kesa. His father, a longshoreman, immigrated from Serbia when he was 27, while his mother arrived from Serbia with her family at the age of two. He has a younger brother named Nikola and an older brother named Jovan. His maternal uncle, Dan Kesa, is a retired NHL right winger who played for the Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Dallas Stars.

Nail Railovich Yakupov (Russian: Наиль Раилович Якупов, Tatar Cyrillic: Наил Раил улы Якупов, Latin: Nail Rail uli Yakupov; born October 6, 1993) is a Russian junior ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

Besides being the consensus early favourite for top pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Yakupov, a Tatar, and a Muslim also represents the first potential breakout hockey star from the Republic of Tatarstan (though there have been other NHLers from this region), a federal subject of the Russian Federation, located 500 miles east of Moscow.

Yakupov was selected second overall by the Sarnia Sting in the 2010 Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft. Prior to this, he played in the Russian Minor Hockey League (MHL) for his hometown team, the Reaktor Nizhnekamsk, but thought that trying to join the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) would be a quicker path to his dream to play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Yakupov scored his first OHL goal against the Windsor Spitfires on September 24, 2010. After winning OHL Rookie of the Month for the month of October, Yakupov participated in the November 11 game of the Subway Super Series for Team Russia, at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario; Russia lost the game 4-0.

Zach Bogosian (born July 15, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing for the Winnipeg Jets. The first person of Armenian descent to play in the NHL, Bogosian attended Cushing Academy in Massachusetts before he joined the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in 2006. He played two seasons in the OHL, and was nominated for the Red Tilson Trophy as the league's most outstanding player in his second season. Bogosian was regarded as a complete, physical defenseman who could contribute on both offense and defense; he was rated as one of the top players heading into the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, where the Atlanta Thrashers selected him third overall. He signed a contract with the team a few weeks after the draft and began the season with the Thrashers, though he missed several weeks of his rookie year due to injury. In his second season, he tied a team record for goals by a defenseman. Bogosian first played in an international tournament when he joined the American national team at the 2009 IIHF World Championship.

Shawn Thornton (born July 23, 1977) is a Canadian professional hockey forward for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. He is known to be an enforcer.

Thornton grew up playing minor hockey for his hometown Oshawa Minor Generals of the OMHA's Eastern AAA League. He was drafted in the 9th round (145th overall) by the Peterborough Petes in the 1995 OHL Priority Selection, one year after being originally passed over in the draft as a Midget-aged player.

He was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1997, 190th overall. He won the Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks and again in 2011 with the Boston Bruins.

On July 1, 2007, he became an unrestricted free agent and signed a three-year, 1.5 million dollar deal with the Boston Bruins.

With the Bruins, Thornton finally became an NHL regular, and he has become famous for taking on famous enforcers like Georges Laraque, Donald Brashear and Riley Cote. He also has his own video blog on the Bruins website.

Thornton was involved in the first fight in the history of the Winter Classic with Philadelphia Flyers agitator Daniel Carcillo on January 1, 2010 at Boston's Fenway Park.