University of Minnesota Athletics
Three From Minnesota to Play at World Juniors
12/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Three players from the University of Minnesota have been selected to the United States squad for the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation Under-20 World Junior championships in Ottawa, Canada.
Sophomore defenseman Cade Fairchild and freshman forward Jordan Schroeder will participate for the second straight year, while sophomore forward Mike Hoeffel has been named to the team for the first time. The 22-member squad will compete from Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Ottawa. Minnesota’s three selections are the most of any collegiate program. In addition, former Gopher Jim O’Brien, who played at Minnesota for the 2006-07 season and is now with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League, has also been named to the team. Wisconsin’s Ryan McDonagh, an Arden Hills, Minn. native, is the only other current Western Collegiate Hockey Association player on the U.S. squad.
The team will play four games in pool play with the top three teams in each pool advancing to the medal round. All of the U.S. team’s games will be televised live on NHL Network, which will also show all of Canada’s games and all medal round games. The U.S. opens against Germany on Dec. 26 at 2:30 p.m. and then faces Czech Republic on Dec. 28, Kazakhstan on Dec. 30 and Canada on Dec. 31. The team’s last three games all begin at 6:30 p.m.
The U.S. team was selected through a tryout camp of 53 players held in August in Lake Placid, N.Y. Current Gophers Aaron Ness, Jake Hansen and Patrick White were also invited to the tryout. This year marks the fifth consecutive year the Gophers have had at least three players selected to the U.S. team. Fairchild, Mike Carman, Ryan Flynn and Kyle Okposo participated in last year’s tournament when the U.S. placed fourth. The three Minnesota players on this year’s squad will miss both of the Gophers’ games in the Dodge Holiday Classic on Jan. 2-3.
Fairchild, a Duluth native, played in all six games in last year’s tournament and finished with one assist. He also played on the under-18 national team that captured a silver medal in Slovakia in April 2007 and was a member of the 2006 under-18 gold medal team in Sweden. Fairchild is currently the Gophers’ top-scoring defenseman with two goals and 10 assists for 12 points.
Schroeder, a Prior Lake, Minn. native, is currently the highest-scoring rookie in Division I hockey with seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points through the Gophers’ first 14 games. He led all players at last year’s under-20 world junior championships with seven assists. Schroeder also played in the under-18 world championships the past two years, helping the U.S. to a bronze medal in 2008 in Russia and a silver medal in 2007 in Slovakia.
Hoeffel, a North Oaks, Minn. native, will play in a world championship event for the first time. He does have international experience, earning a silver medal with the U.S. squad in the 2006 under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in the Czech Republic. This season, Hoeffel has three goals and three assists for six points in the Gophers’ first 14 games.
