PLYMOUTH, Mich. – The 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase will begin tomorrow (July 28) at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. A total of 42 U.S. players will take part in daily practices in addition to international games against Canada, Finland and Sweden.
The event is an audition for players seeking to make their federation team that will compete at the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2017 – Jan. 5, 2018, in Buffalo, New York.
All total, 12 games over eight days will be contested and tickets can be purchased online here or by calling the USA Hockey Arena Box Office at 734-453-8400.
In total, 116 of the 144 players set to take part in the week-long showcase have been drafted or signed by an NHL club, including 65 who were first or second round selections. Of those players, 17 are American with 10 having been chosen in the first round, including 2017 picks Casey Mittelstadt (Buffalo), Josh Norris (San Jose), Jake Oettinger (Dallas), Ryan Poehling (Montreal) and Kailer Yamamoto (Edmonton). For complete event rosters, click here.
Of the 42 U.S. players participating, seven helped Team USA claim the gold medal at last year’s IIHF World Junior Championship, including forwards Joey Anderson, Kieffer Bellows and Patrick Harper; defensemen Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren; and goaltenders Jake Oettinger and Joseph Woll. In addition, several members of last season’s U.S. National Under-18 Team, a part of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, will take part, including forwards Evan Barratt, Logan Cockerill, Sean Dhooghe, Grant Mismash, Josh Norris, and Brady Tkachuk; defensemen Max Gildon, Quinn Hughes, Tyler Inamoto, Phil Kemp and Nate Knoepke; and goaltender Dylan St. Cyr. Additionally, forward Oliver Wahlstrom, who will skate the 2017-18 season with the U.S. National Under-18 Team, will be attending the event. For more U.S. roster details, click here.
NHL NETWORK TO TELEVISE WJSS
NHL Network will televise the final three days of games at the 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase. The six-game NHL Network coverage begins on Wed., Aug. 2, with Canada-Finland at 1 p.m. ET and USA-Sweden at 4 p.m., while on Fri., Aug. 4, fans will see Sweden vs. Canada at 1 p.m. and Finland vs. USA at 4 p.m. NHL Network’s coverage concludes with two of the biggest rivalry games in the sport on Sat., Aug. 5, with Sweden facing Finland at 4 p.m., and USA taking on Canada at 7 p.m.
In addition, HockeyTV will provide live streaming coverage of the first three days of competition – six games total – including a pair of U.S.-Canada split-squad matchups on Tues., Aug. 1.
NOTES: The complete 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase schedule can be found here … Bob Motzko (St. Cloud, Minn.) is the head coach of the 2017 U.S. National Junior Team … The assistant coaches for Team USA are Greg Brown (Scituate, Mass.), Grant Potulny (Minneapolis, Minn.), Kris Mayotte (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Steve Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo.) … Dan Muse (Geneva, Ill.) and Toby Petersen (Minneapolis, Minn.) will serve as guest camp coaches … USA Hockey’s international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), vice president of USA Hockey, has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. national teams.
