| Monday, July 1, 2019 Roster set for Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Twenty-two players who participated at the USA Hockey Boys Select 17 Player Development Camp have been chosen for the 2019 U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team that will compete Aug. 5-10 at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia.The week-long Boys Select 17 Player Development Camp concluded today at the Northtown Center in Amherst, New York, with its annual all-star game and Hlinka Gretzky Cup roster selection.The 2019 U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team features 11 players who helped the U.S. Under-17 Men’s Select Team to a third-place finish at the 2018 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament, held last summer in Piestany, Slovakia. That group, which features seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender, is highlighted by Colin Purcell (Shaker Heights, Ohio) who won both of his starts to finish with a 1.00 goals-against-average, .900 save percentage and one shutout.Pat Ferschweiler (Rochester, Minn.), who served as head coach for the championship-winning 2017 U.S. Under-17 Men’s Select Team and was an assistant coach on the U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team that finished fourth at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup last year, will serve as head coach for the 2019 U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team. He will be joined behind the bench by assistant coaches Mark Dennehy(Andover, Mass./Binghamton Devils (AHL)), Roger Grillo (Providence, R.I./USA Hockey) and Kevin Moore (Belle Mead, N.J./Adrian College). Kevin McLaughlin (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey’s assistant executive director of hockey development, will serve as general manager.NOTES: The 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup will include teams from Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States … Team USA has finished in the top three of the Hlinka tournament 13 times since the tournament began in 1991. The U.S. earned first place in 2003, second on nine occasions (1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2016) and third three times (1991, 1995, 2014) … At the 2019 NHL Draft, 59 American players were drafted, including 52 who skated in a USA Hockey Player Development Camp Of those 59 American players drafted, 13 have skated on a U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team while 10 have played on a U.S. Under-17 Men’s Select Team. |
