UMD coach Scott Sandelin has been a part of three previous U.S. World Junior coaching staffs (photo: Omar Phillips).Scott Sandelin, who last Saturday led Minnesota Duluth to its second consecutive NCAA national championship, has been named head coach of the 2020 U.S. National Junior Team.The U.S. National Junior Team will take part in the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2019 to Jan. 5, 2020, in Ostrava and Trinec, Czech Republic.The United States will compete in Group B alongside host Czech Republic, Canada, Germany and Russia. Team USA and Group B will play preliminary round games in Ostrava, while Group A, which includes Finland, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Slovakia and Switzerland, will play its preliminary round games in Trinec.“We’re extremely pleased to have Scott leading our national junior team this coming year,” said USA Hockey assistant executive director of hockey operations John Vanbiesbrouck in a statement. “He is a proven winner who takes great pride in representing our country and we look forward to building another team capable of winning a gold medal.”Sandelin has been a part of three previous U.S. National Junior Team coaching staffs, including serving as head coach in 2005 and as an assistant coach in both 2012 and for last year’s silver medal-winning team.“This is one of the greatest hockey tournaments on the calendar each year and it’s an honor to represent our country as head coach,” added Sandelin. “Last year, we fell just short of our goal, so to have the opportunity to come back and get another chance at helping our country win a gold medal is exciting. The expectation for the United States in this tournament is to contend for gold and I’m excited to begin the process towards continuing the success those before us have established.”
