USA Hockey on Tuesday unveiled its preliminary roster of 27 players for the 2013 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete at the IIHF World Junior Championship from Dec. 26, 2012 to Jan. 5, 2013, in Ufa, Russia.
The players (16 of them with college ties, listed below) will attend training camp Dec. 16-18 at the New York Rangers’ Madison Square Garden Training Center in Tarrytown, N.Y., with an additional camp in Helsinki, Finland, and the final 23-man roster announced on Dec. 23.
“We have a young, but talented group of players,” said U.S. National Junior Team GM and USA Hockey assistant executive director of hockey operations Jim Johannson in a news release. “There will be some tough choices to get to the final roster, but that’s certainly a good problem to have.”
Just three invitees were members of the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team, including goaltender John Gibson (OHL’s Kitchener Rangers), defenseman Jacob Trouba (Michigan) and forward J.T. Miller (AHL’s Connecticut Whale).
Team USA’s head coach is Phil Housley, with all three assistants (Mark Osiecki/Ohio State head coach, Grant Potulny/Minnesota assistant and David Lassonde/Denver assistant) coming from the NCAA ranks.
| Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Gillies | G | Providence |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | D | Union |
| Matt Grzelcyk | D | Boston University |
| Jake McCabe | D | Wisconsin |
| Mike Reilly | D | Minnesota |
| Brady Skjei | D | Minnesota |
| Jacob Trouba | D | Michigan |
| Cole Bardreau | F | Cornell |
| Riley Barber | F | Miami |
| Tyler Biggs | F | Miami (2011-12) |
| John Gaudreau | F | Boston College |
| Rocco Grimaldi | F | North Dakota |
| Sean Kuraly | F | Miami |
| Mario Lucia | F | Notre Dame |
| Blake Pietila | F | Michigan Tech |
| Jim Vesey | F | Harvard |
