Thursday, May 8, 2014

44 Players Set for IIHF Worlds

Nine nations feature NCAA alums, including 20 representing USA Hockey.


44 Players Set for IIHF Worlds
Former Bemidji State star Matt Read is among the alums at the 2014 IIHF World Championship.

When the puck drops on the 2014 IIHF World Championship Friday in Belarus, more than half of the participating nations will feature former college hockey players on their roster as they pursue gold.

That group of 44 players with NCAA ties includes representatives of 27 schools playing for nine countries. Twenty of the 44 will represent Team USA, which begins play Friday against the host country and will have all of its games broadcast and streamed live by NBC Sports Network in the U.S.

Official Site | USAHockey.com

Belarus, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Latvia and Sweden join the U.S. with college representation, meaning that nine of the 16 teams in the tournament feature NCAA players. UMass Lowell and Wisconsin lead all schools with four representatives each, while Boston College and Cornell both have three.

Six players in the tournament played NCAA hockey this season, all on either Belarus or the United States. The Belarus roster features Kirill Gotovets (Cornell) and Oleg Yevenko (Massachusetts); Yevenko, a junior this year, is the only player in the tournament with NCAA eligibility remaining. Johnny Gaudreau (Boston College), Kevin Hayes (Boston College), Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) and Jake McCabe (Wisconsin) were all named to Team USA after playing college hockey this year.

In addition to the players, the U.S. and Canada are both coached by former college hockey players – Peter Laviolette (Westfield State) and Dave Tippett (North Dakota), respectively.

Former College Players

Belarus
Kirill Gotovets Cornell
Oleg Yevenko* Massachusetts
Canada
Kevin Bieksa Bowling Green
Jason Garrison Minnesota Duluth
Matt Read Bemidji State
Ben Scrivens Cornell
Kyle Turris Wisconsin
Denmark
Olivier Lauridsen St. Cloud State
France
Baptiste Amar UMass Lowell
Stephane da Costa Merrimack
Laurent Meunier UMass Lowell
Yorick Treille UMass Lowell
Germany
Justin Krueger Cornell
Italy
Daniel Bellissimo Western Michigan
David Borrelli Mercyhurst
Nate di Casmirro St. Cloud State
Brian Ihnacak Brown
Thomas Larkin Colgate
Davide Nicoletti Alabama-Huntsville
Vince Rocco Niagara
Dan Sullivan Niagara
Latvia
Jekabs Redlihs Boston University
Sweden
Erik Gustafsson Northern Michigan
Gustav Nyquist Maine
United States
Justin Abdelkader Michigan State
Danny DeKeyser Western Michigan
Matt Donovan Denver
Jake Gardiner Wisconsin
Johnny Gaudreau Boston College
Jimmy Hayes Boston College
Kevin Hayes Boston College
Connor Hellebuyck UMass Lowell
David Leggio Clarkson
Jake McCabe Wisconsin
Colin McDonald Providence
Andy Miele Miami
Brock Nelson North Dakota
Jeff Petry Michigan State
Drew Shore Denver
Craig Smith Wisconsin
Tim Stapleton Minnesota Duluth
Tim Thomas Vermont
Jacob Trouba Michigan
Tommy Wingels Miami

* Lone player with eligibility remaining; will be a senior in the fall