US Roster Set For World Juniors

The roster is now set in stone for the 22-men who will be looked upon to defend the gold medal they won last year in Saskatchewan, on home soil this year in Buffalo.

The roster includes eight returning players from last year’s team, including Jack Campbell (G), John Ramage (D), Ryan Bourque (F), Jerry D’Amigo (F), Chris Kreider (F), Jeremy Morin (F), Kyle Palmieri (F), and Jason Zucker (F).  Three of the players – Nick Leddy, Morin, and Palmieri – all have NHL experience.

Morin was a bit of a mystery, as injuries to the the Chicago Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane almost prevented USA hockey from having their 19-year old sniper, however he was released in time to join the team for camp.

There were seven players cut Wednesday, and like Canada, most of them were the youngsters, including Adam Clendening (D), Jamieson Oleksiak (D), Philip Samuelsson (D), Connor Brickley (F), Rocco Grimaldi (F), Matthew Nieto (F) and Brandon Saad (F).

In total, there are four players out of the CHL, one out of the ECAC, seven out of the WCHA, two out of the CCHA, four out of HE, and four of the AHL.

The complete breakdown of the roster is as follows;

GOALIES – Jack Campbell, Windsor Spitfires (OHL), Andy Iles, Cornell University (ECAC)

DEFENSEMEN — Justin Faulk – Minnesota-Duluth (WCHA), Derek Forbort – North Dakota (WCHA), Jon Merrill – Michigan (CCHA), Patrick Wey – Boston College (HE), Brian Dumoulin – Boston College (HE), Nick Leddy – Rockford (AHL), John Ramage – Wisconsin (WCHA)

FORWARDS — Nick Bjugstad – Minnesota (WCHA), Ryan Bourque – Quebec (QMJHL), Mitch Callahan – Kelowna (WHL), Jerry D’Amigo – Toronto (AHL), Brock Nelson – North Dakota (WCHA), Chris Brown – Michigan (CCHA), Kyle Palmieri – Syracuse (AHL), Drew Shore – Denver (WCHA), Chris Kreider – Boston College (HE), Charlie Coyle – Boston University (HE), Emerson Etem – Medicine Hat (WHL), Jeremy Morin – Rockford (AHL), Jason Zucker – Denver (WCHA)

The U.S. National Junior Team, coached by Keith Allain, begin preliminary-round play at 8 p.m. on Dec. 26 against Finland.