Official Release: Vail Among USA National Junior Evaluation Camp Invitees

Forty Players Invited to 2013 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp

Event Set for August 3-10 in Lake Placid in Preparation for 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship

USA Hockey Press Release
06/06/2013, 11:55am EDT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey today announced the 40 forwards and defensemen that have been invited to the National Junior Evaluation Camp, Aug. 3-10, in Lake Placid, N.Y. The players will be auditioning for spots on the U.S. National Junior Team that will take part in the 2014 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2013-Jan. 5, 2014, in Malmo, Sweden. Goaltender invitations to the camp will be announced later this month.

The United States has medaled in three of the last four IIHF World Junior Championships, including gold 2013 and 2010 and bronze in 2011.

Of the 40 players attending, 23 have won medals in IIHF world championships. Riley Barber (Pittsburgh, Pa./Miami Univ.) and Patrick Sieloff (Ann Arbor, Mich./Windsor Spitfires) were part of the gold-medal-winning 2013 U.S. National Junior Team.

This past April, Gage Ausmus (East Grand Forks, N.D.), Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wis.),Connor Clifton (Matawan, N.J.), J.T. Compher (Northbrook, Ill.), Hudson Fasching(Burnsville, Minn.), John Hayden (Greenwich, Conn.), Michael McCarron (Macomb, Mich.), Tyler Motte (St. Clair, Mich.) Steve Santini (Mahopac, N.Y.), Keaton Thompson (Devils Lake, N.D.) and Tommy Vannelli (Minnetonka, Minn.) helped the U.S. Men’s National Under-18 Team collect the silver medal at the 2013 IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Championship in Sochi, Russia.

A year ago, Barber, Butcher, Compher and Sieloff were joined by Connor Carrick (Orland Park, Ill.), Andrew Copp (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Thomas DiPauli (Woodbridge, Ill.), Matt Grzelcyk (Charlestown, Mass.), Nicolas Kerdiles (Irvine, Calif.), Matt Lane (Rochester, N.Y.), Dan O’Regan (Needham, Mass.), Quentin Shore (Denver, Colo.) and Brady Skjei (Lakeville, Minn.) as members of the U.S. Men’s National Under-18 Team that won the gold medal at the 2012 IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Championship in Brno, Czech Republic.

Henrik Samuelsson (Scottsdale, Ariz.) helped the U.S. Men’s National Under-18 Team win the gold medal at the 2011 IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Championship in Crimmitschau, Germany.

The camp, which will be held at Lake Placid’s Olympic Center utilizing the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, includes practices and international games against Canada, Finland and Sweden. A full schedule is below. Tickets can be purchased online at WhiteFaceLakePlacid.com, by phone at (518) 523-3330 or in person at the Olympic Center Box Office.

NOTES: Of the 40 players invited to the USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp, 18 competed in the United States Hockey League during the 2012-13 season, including 11 from USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program … Eight of the 40 players participated in last year’s camp … The 2014 U.S. National Junior Team will be selected following a pre-tournament camp Dec. 15-18 to be held in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area … Don Lucia (Plymouth, Minn.), head coach of the University of Minnesota men’s ice hockey team, was named head coach of the 2014 U.S. National Junior Team on March 23. The assistant coaches are Bob Motzko (St. Cloud, Minn.), head coach of the St. Cloud State University men’s ice hockey team, Greg Brown (Scituate, Mass.), associate head coach of the Boston College men’s ice hockey team and David Lassonde (Denver, Colo.) assistant coach of the University of Denver’s men’s ice hockey team. The video coordinator is Dan Muse (Clinton, Conn.), assistant coach of Yale University’s men’s ice hockey team … Jim Johannson(Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey’s assistant executive director of hockey operations, is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the fifth consecutive year … The U.S. will compete in a group with Canada, Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship.