Wednesday, July 30, 2014
WJC Candidates Set for Camp
33 NCAA players headed to Lake Placid for USA Hockey Evaluation Camp.
Thirty-three NCAA players representing 14 schools will be in attendance this weekend as USA Hockey brings 42 players to Lake Placid, N.Y., for the 2014 National Junior Evaluation Camp.
Boston College leads all schools with six representatives, followed closely by Michigan and Minnesota (five each). Denver, Miami, North Dakota, Notre Dame and Yale also have multiple players participating.
The camp, which features practices and games against Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, serves as an audition for the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship, which will be held Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Toronto and Montreal. At least two NCAA recruits will be featured on the European teams – Finland’s Erik Autio, who is headed to Penn State, and Sweden’s Leon Bristedt, who is will play at Minnesota.
Camp begins Saturday, Aug. 2, with practices and games taking place at the Lake Placid Olympic Center’s USA Rink. On Tuesday, Aug. 5, Team USA will trim its roster to a single squad that will continue camp through Saturday, Aug. 9.
The U.S. players are divided into Team Blue and Team White and will be led by NCAA alums behind both benches. Vermont assistant coach Kevin Patrick (Notre Dame alum) and Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Tony Granato (Wisconsin alum) lead Team Blue, while Boston College assistant Mike Ayers (UNH alum) and Mike Sullivan (BU alum) lead Team White.
Seven players in the camp are returning from the 2014 U.S. National Junior Team, including three of the Boston College Eagles: Thatcher Demko, Ian McCoshen and Steve Santini.
| NCAA Players at U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp | ||||
| Team Blue | Team White | |||
| Louis Belpedio | Miami | Mike Brodzinski | Minnesota | |
| Anders Bjork | Notre Dame | Will Butcher | Denver | |
| Taylor Cammarata | Minnesota | Connor Clifton | Quinnipiac | |
| Michael Downing | Michigan | Ryan Collins | Minnesota | |
| Jack Eichel | Boston University | J.T. Compher | Michigan | |
| Anthony Florentino | Providence | Kyle Connor | Michigan | |
| John Hayden | Yale | Evan Cowley | Denver | |
| Dylan Larkin | Michigan | Thatcher Demko | Boston College | |
| Vinny Lettieri | Minnesota | Jack Dougherty | Wisconsin | |
| Sean Malone | Harvard | Hudson Fasching | Minnesota | |
| Ian McCoshen | Boston College | Ryan Hitchcock | Yale | |
| Sonny Milano | Boston College | Connor Hurley | Notre Dame | |
| Tyler Motte | Michigan | Clint Lewis | Cornell | |
| Austin Poganski | North Dakota | Anthony Louis | Miami | |
| Steve Santini | Boston College | Auston Matthews | Uncommitted | |
| Alex Tuch | Boston College | Scott Savage | Boston College | |
| Nick Schmaltz | North Dakota | |||