COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey announced today the Team Blue and Team White rosters for the 2018 World Junior Summer Showcase that will take place at Sandman Centre in Kamloops, B.C., July 28-Aug. 4.
Team Blue will be coached by Scott Sandelin (Hibbing, Minn./University of Minnesota Duluth) and Chris Clark (South Windsor, Conn./Columbus Blue Jackets), while Team White will be coached by Steve Miller (Columbus, Ohio/Ohio State University) and Pat Mikesch (Hancock, Mich./Green Bay Gamblers).
The week-long event will include 11 international competitions between Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States.
Jerry Keefe Tabbed Assistant Coach
USA Hockey also announced today that Jerry Keefe (Saugus, Mass.), associate head coach of the Northeastern University men’s ice hockey team, will serve as an assistant coach for the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team, joining head coach Mike Hastings (Crookston, Minn./Minnesota State Mankato) and fellow assistants David Lassonde (Durham, N.H./Dartmouth College), Steve Miller (Columbus, Ohio/Ohio State University) and Scott Sandelin (Hibbing, Minn./University of Minnesota Duluth).
While Keefe is serving on a U.S. national team staff for the first time, he has been involved in an instructor in multiple USA Hockey events during the course of his career.
The 2018-19 campaign will mark Keefe’s eighth season at Northeastern and fifth as associate head coach. Since joining the Huskies as an assistant coach in 2011-12, Keefe has been instrumental in Northeastern’s notable successes that include the program’s first Hockey East Championship (2015-16) and first Beanpot title (2017-18) since 1988. Prior to joining Northeastern, Keefe served two seasons (2009-11) as an assistant coach for Brown University and four seasons in the NCAA Division III ranks, including two seasons (2007-09) as head coach of Westfield State University and one season (2006-07) as an assistant coach for the University of Massachusetts Boston.
2019 U.S. National Junior Team Support Staff Also Named
USA Hockey named today its support staff for the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team, including video coach Alex Dawes (University Park, Pa./Penn State University), athletic trainers Matt Schmidt (Arthur, Iowa/Minnesota State Mankato) and Stan Wong (Boca Raton, Fla.); equipment managers Nick Meldrum (Denver, Colo./University of Denver) and Jake Visser (Ann Arbor, Mich./USA Hockey) and communications manager Jon Gomez (Colorado Springs, Colo./USA Hockey).
Notes: Visit teamusa.usahockey.com/worldjuniors for more information … On Aug. 1, Team USA will trim its roster and a single U.S. squad will finish the camp with practices and games against Canada, Finland and Sweden … The 42-player camp roster consists of 12 states, including Michigan (10), Minnesota (8), Massachusetts (6), Illinois (4), Florida (3), New Jersey (3), Connecticut (2), New York (2), California (1), Missouri (1), Ohio (1) and Pennsylvania (1) … The players are auditioning for a spot on the U.S. National Junior Team that will take part in the 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2018, through Jan. 5, 2019, in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia … The United States enters the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship having earned three-straight medals (gold-2017, bronze-2016, 2018) for the first time in tournament history … John Vanbiesbrouck (Detroit, Mich.) is the general manager of the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team … Mike Hastings (Crookston, Minn.) is the head coach of the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team with David Lassonde (Durham, N.H.), Steve Miller (Columbus, Ohio), Scott Sandelin (Hibbing, Minn.) and Jerry Keefe (Saugus, Mass.) serving as assistant coaches … USA Hockey’s international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. national teams.
