COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey announced today the pre-tournament schedule for its 2018 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Buffalo, New York.
The U.S., which is aiming for back-to-back gold medal finishes for the first time ever, will convene at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, for its pre-tournament training camp from Dec. 15-19.
The team will play a pre-tournament game Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. ET against Belarus at the Northwest Arena in Jamestown, New York, and tickets are now on sale for that contest. The U.S. will also face Sweden in pre-tournament competition Dec. 22 at Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pennsylvania. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and tickets will go on sale Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. ET.
The preliminary roster for the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team will be unveiled in early December.
NOTES: Individual and ticket packages for the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship are on sale now at buffaloworldjuniors.com … A media credential application for the U.S. camp in Columbus will be available in mid-November … Jim Johannson (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey’s assistant executive director of hockey operations, is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the ninth consecutive year … Bob Motzko (St. Cloud, Minn.), who guided Team USA to its fourth-ever gold medal at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto, Canada, will return as head coach for the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team. He is joined behind the bench by assistant coaches Greg Brown (Scituate, Mass.), Grant Potulny (Minneapolis, Minn.), Kris Mayotte (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Steve Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo.), all of whom were part of his gold medal-winning staff a year ago … Media wishing to attend the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship should complete the online credential form, found here. Application deadline is at 12 noon ET on Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 … In August, 44 players attended the 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. Complete details from that camp, including rosters and statistics, can be found here.
