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Team USA WJC Preliminary Roster Announced

December 4, 2012, 4:00 PM ET [18 Comments]
Julie Robenhymer
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Earlier this morning, USA Hockey announced their preliminary roster for the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia.

Goalies:
John Gibson*
Jon Gillies
Garret Sparks

Defensemen:
Shayne Gostisbehere
Matt Grzelcyk
Seth Jones
Jake McCabe
Connor Murphy
Mike Reilly
Patrick Sieloff
Brady Skjei
Jacob Trouba*

Forwards:
Cole Bardreau
Riley Barber
Tyler Biggs
Alex Galchenyuk
John Gaudreau
Rocco Grimaldi
Ryan Hartman
Sean Kuraly
Mario Lucia
Stefan Matteau
JT Miller*
Stefan Noesen
Blake Pietila
Vince Trocheck
Jim Vesey

* 2012 US National Junior Team Member

You can see the complete roster here.

There's only one player on this list that wasn't invited to the evaluation camp in Lake Placid - Riley Barber, a member of the USNTDP who helped Team USA win their fourth consecutive gold medal at the U-18 World Championship in April and who is leading Miami in scoring as a freshman.

Rocco Grimaldi was not at the camp in Lake Placid due to injury, but was invited and was also invited to the selection camp in 2011 and just missed the cut as an 17-year-old.

So, the only real surprise is that there are only 27 names on the list. Typically there are 30 players and Travis Boyd, Nic Kerdiles and Thomas DiPauli would have been on my list. Beyond that, this is a solid group of guys with speed, skill and size.

Looking at the goalies, John Gibson is Team USA's starter going into this camp and after Lake Placid, I said Garret Sparks was firm in the number two spot, but Jon Gillies has been absolutely fantastic for Providence College this season and will provide some solid competition between the pipes.

On defense, competition is tight and with a coaching staff full of blueline experience, you knew it was be a big point of emphasis. They want guys who can skate well and support the transition game. Seth Jones and Jacob Trouba, barring injury, are on this team. Given how important the ability to generate offense is going to be for this team, I think all three offensive defensemen - Gostisbehere, Grzelcyk and Reilly - make the team especially since they are all positionally sound and responsible in their own end. That leaves room for one more two-way guy and I'm tabbing Connor Murphy for that spot. Had he been healthy last year, I think he would have been on the team. That leaves McCabe, Sieloff and Skjei for the seventh spot and after a couple coin flips, I'd go with Pat Sieloff. He was just an absolute BAMF in Lake Placid and he will make every game miserable for the opponent. Really tough choice though…I love what McCabe and Skjei bring to the table.

Up front, I think you're going to have two lines of pure offense - Galchenyuk, Gaudreau, Grimaldi, Hartman, Miller and Vesey - with another two lines of strong two-way players with offensive abilities - Barber, Biggs, Hartman, Kuraly, Lucia and Trocheck. As the 13th forward, I think you'd have to go with Noesen because of his versatility and competitive nature. That unfortunately means Bardreau and Matteau miss the cut on my list.

After speaking with Team USA General Manager Jim Johansson and head coach Phil Housely this morning, they want guys who are fast and physical with a feisty competitive spirit. They want guys who want to win and are willing to prove it every single shift. They also haven't ruled out the possibility of inviting more players so while they have projections on who they want to bring to Russia, their eyes are still wide open and eager to see who brings the fire with them to camp in New York starting December 16th.

**********

Also, if you'd like to watch some live hockey tomorrow night, NBC Sports Network will broadcast the Dartmouth-Vermont game at 7ET.

Julie
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