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FORMER USHL TALENT LOOKS TO LEAD TEAM USA AT 2018 WJC

December 13, 2017 - United States Hockey League (USHL) News Release


FORMER USHL TALENT LOOKS TO LEAD TEAM USA AT 2018 WJC 26 players with USHL experience named to U.S. Preliminary Roster for 2018 World Junior Championship.

26 players with USHL experience were named to the U.S. National Junior Team Preliminary Roster in preparation for the 2018 World Junior Championship. The announcement was made today by USA Hockey on NHL Network. The group is auditioning for a spot on the final 23-man roster that will represent the United States in the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship from Dec. 26, 2017 - Jan. 5, 2018, in Buffalo, NY.

25 of the 28 players named to the roster are currently playing or have experience playing college hockey. 17 of the 26 former USHL players named to the roster were selected in the first three rounds of their respective NHL Draft, with eight players drafted in the first round. At least one player with USHL experience has been featured on every U.S. World Junior Championship roster since 1995. The USHL has had 10 or more players featured on Team USA since 2012, including a record 22 former players on the 2017 team, which captured the gold medal in a thrilling shootout victory over Canada.

Additionally, seven former USHL players were a member of the 2017 U.S. National Junior Team that earned the gold medal at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto, Canada: Joey Anderson (Team USA), Kieffer Bellows (Team USA), Patrick Harper (Omaha Lancers), Adam Fox (Team USA), Ryan Lindgren (Team USA), Jake Oettinger (Team USA) and Joseph Woll (Team USA).

Other notable players named to the team include Casey Mittelstadt (Green Bay Gamblers), who was selected eighth overall by the Buffalo Sabres at the 2017 NHL Draft after spending part of last season with the Green Bay Gamblers, 2018 NHL Draft eligible defenseman Quinn Hughes (Team USA), who was named to last year's USHL All-Second Team and Anaheim Ducks prospect Jack Badini (Chicago Steel), who helped lead the Chicago Steel to the team's first ever Clark Cup championship in 2017.

USA Hockey will also bring back the same staff that lead the team to a gold medal in 2017. Head coach Bob Motzko played for the Dubuque Fighting Saints and Waterloo Black Hawks, and also coached the North Iowa Huskies and Sioux Falls Stampede. Motzko was named USHL General Manager of the Year in both 1989 and 2000. General Manager Jim Johannson coached the Twin Cities Vulcans. Assistant coaches Grant Potulny (Lincoln Stars), Kris Mayote (Sioux City Musketeers) and Steve Miller (Madison Capitols) all played in the USHL.

The players will attend training camp Dec. 15-19 at Nationwide Arena and OhioHealth Ice Haus in Columbus, OH, followed by an additional camp in Jamestown, NY, from Dec. 20-23. The complete U.S. National Junior Team Preliminary Roster can be found HERE.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the USHL celebrates its 16th season as the nation's only Tier I junior hockey league in 2017-18. 30 or more players from the USHL have been selected in five consecutive NHL Drafts, and more than 400 players on team rosters last season committed to NCAA Division I schools, further establishing the USHL as the world's foremost producer of junior hockey talent.

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