Current NCAA players Daniel Brickley (Minnesota State), Jordan Greenway (Boston University) and Cal Petersen (Notre Dame) are among the numerous college hockey connections on the U.S. National Team that will compete in the 2017 IIHF World Championship, USA Hockey announced Thursday.
The U.S. coaching staff all have college connections and include assistant coach Rand Pecknold, the current head coach at Quinnipiac. The team’s head coach, Jeff Blashill, played at Ferris State and was the head coach at Western Michigan. His other assistants include Jack Capuano (Maine alum) and Seth Appert (Ferris State alum, former Rensselaer head coach).
Thirteen of the first 15 players named to the U.S. team played college hockey, including the three current players.
| Player | Current Team | NCAA Team |
| Nick Bjugstad, F | Florida Panthers | Minnesota |
| Daniel Brickley, D | Minnesota State | Minnesota State |
| J.T. Compher, F | Colorado Avalanche | Michigan |
| Andrew Copp, F | Winnipeg Jets | Michigan |
| Danny DeKeyser, D | Detroit Red Wings | Western Michigan |
| Christian Dvorak, F | Arizona Coyotes | |
| Jordan Greenway, F | Boston University | Boston University |
| Connor Hellebuyck, G | Winnipeg Jets | UMass Lowell |
| Jimmy Howard, G | Detroit Red Wings | Maine |
| Dylan Larkin, F | Detroit Red Wings | Michigan |
| Anders Lee, F | New York Islanders | Notre Dame |
| Connor Murphy, D | Arizona Coyotes | |
| Brock Nelson, F | New York Islanders | North Dakota |
| Cal Petersen, G | Notre Dame | Notre Dame |
| Jacob Trouba, D | Winnipeg Jets | Michigan |
Nine schools are represented among the first 15 selections, led by Michigan (four players) and Notre Dame (two).
The event will take place May 5-21 in Germany and France, with Team USA’s preliminary round games set for Cologne, Germany.