By @MichaelCaples –
Today, USA Hockey announced its 28-man preliminary roster for the upcoming 2020 World Junior Championship.
Eighteen of the 28 players have ties to Michigan, and 13 are products of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Plymouth. Michigan is well-represented on the list, with Christian Krygier, Alec Regula and Johnny Gruden all being selected, as well as Michigan youth-hockey participants in Alex Turcotte (HoneyBaked), Arthur Kaliyev (Compuware/Little Caesars) and Nick Robertson (Little Caesars).
“We were able to assemble a roster with great balance of youth and experience and we’re thrilled with the potential of this group,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, general manager of the 2020 U.S. National Junior Team and also the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. “We had a deep player pool to select from, and that’s credit to all the organizations and volunteers developing the next wave of U.S. hockey stars. I know [head coach] Scott Sandelin and his staff are excited to bring these players together at camp as we begin the challenge of creating a final roster that will give us the best chance to bring home a gold medal.”
Here are all of the Michigan names appearing on the list for Team USA:
Christian Kryger – Novi native – Michigan State
Alec Regula – West Bloomfield native
Johnny Gruden – Rochester native, NTDP alum
Alex Turcotte – HoneyBaked, NTDP alum
Nick Robertson – Arcadia, Calif./Northville native
Mattias Samuelsson – Western Michigan, NTDP alum
Cam York – Michigan, NTDP alum
Johnny Beecher – Michigan, NTDP alum
Arthur Kaliyev – Compuware, Little Caesars alum
Robert Mastrosimone – Red Wings draftee
Jacob Pivonka – NTDP alum
Cole Caufield – NTDP alum
K’Andre Miller – NTDP alum
Spencer Knight – NTDP alum
Ty Emberson – NTDP alum
Trevor Zegras – NTDP alum
Trevor Janicke – NTDP alum
Spencer Stastney – NTDP alum