| COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey announced the 17-player roster for the 2019-20 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. The group includes 15 returnees from the 2018-19 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team that claimed Team USA’s fourth gold medal in world championship history at the 2019 Para Ice Hockey World Championship in Ostrava, Czech Republic.“We have selected a solid group of athletes to represent Team USA this year with many talented players returning from last season,” said Dan Brennan, director of sled hockey for USA Hockey and general manager of the 2019-20 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. “Our coaching staff was thoroughly impressed with the level of competition displayed at tryouts this year, which speaks volumes to the overall growth and development of the game.”Highlighting the returnees from last year’s gold medal-winning team are forwards Declan Farmer(Tampa, Fla.) and Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.); defensemen Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) and Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.); and the goaltender duo of Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) and Jen Lee (San Francisco, Calif.). At the 2019 Para Ice Hockey World Championship, Farmer was deemed Best Forward after boasting a tournament-best 14 points (7g, 7a) in five games that included scoring the game-tying goal with 3:26 to play in regulation and registering the primary assist on Roybal’s game-winning goal in overtime. Returning defenseman Wallace, who tied Farmer with seven goals in five games at the world championship, scored five goals in Team USA’s 10-2 semifinal win over the Czech Republic to set a U.S. record for most goals in a single game in world championship play.A total of 12 players on this year’s roster have been a part of a gold medal-winning U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team. Leading the way are Cash and Pauls, who have been a part of all three U.S. teams (2010, 2014, 2018) that have claimed an unprecedented three-straight Paralympic gold medals. Joining the pair are four two-time Paralympic gold medalists (2014, 2018) in Farmer, Kevin McKee (Chicago, Ill.), Rico Roman (Portland, Ore.) and Roybal. Five other players, including forwards Travis Dodson (Deming, N.M.), Noah Grove (Frederick, Md.) and Luke McDermott (Westerlo, N.Y.), as well as defensemen Ralph DeQuebec (San Pedro, Calif.) and Wallace, were part of the gold medal-winning U.S. entry at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.Additionally, Colin Gooley (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and Josh Hargis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) are entering their second stints with the U.S. national team. Gooley and Hargis both joined the national team last season after serving as co-captains of the U.S. Development Sled Hockey Team in 2017-18 alongside Chris Douglas (St. Cloud, Fla.), who was a part of the 2014-15 U.S. roster that went undefeated during the season en route to winning the 2015 IPC Sled Hockey World Championship on home ice in Buffalo, New York.Newcomers to the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team include forward Joseph Woodke (Nashville, Tenn.) and defenseman David Eustace (Stoneham, Mass.), who both skated with the U.S. Men’s Development Sled Hockey Team in 2018-19.NOTES: David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.) enters his second season as the head coach of the 2019-20 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team … Hoff will be joined by assistant coach Corey Gorder (Bottineau, N.D.), athletic trainer Mike Cortese (Boynton Beach, Fla.), equipment manager Joel Isaacson (Houghton, Mich.) and team physician Mike Uihlein (Grafton, Wis.), all four of which were part of Team USA’s 2018-19 staff … The 2019-20 U.S. Men’s Development Sled Hockey Team and the U.S. Women’s Development Sled Hockey Team rosters will be announced following the U.S. Women’s Development Training Camp that will run July 18-20 in Plymouth, Michigan … For more information on USA Hockey’s disabled hockey disciplines, click here. |
