Sunday, March 4, 2018
NCAA Well Represented at Worlds
Eleven teams at the World Championship feature NCAA representatives.
Thirty-SIX current or former NCAA players are competing in the 2018 IIHF World Championships that begin Friday in Denmark.
Eleven of the 16 teams in the tournament feature at least one NCAA representative, led by the United States entry with 17 college players. All U.S. games, beginning with Friday’s opening game against Canada (10 a.m. ET), will be televised on NHL Network.
The gold- and bronze-medal games are set for Sunday, May 20, in Copenhagen.
Twenty-one schools are represented in the tournament, led by Boston College with five players (all on the U.S.). Players by NCAA team:
5 – Boston College
3 – Michigan, St. Cloud State
2 – Colorado College, Maine, Miami, North Dakota, Notre Dame, Western Michigan
1 – Alaska, Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Connecticut, Denver, UMass Lowell, Merrimack, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, SUNY-Plattsburgh, Union
Three of the participants played college hockey this season.
First-round NHL Draft prospect Quinn Hughes (Orlando, Fla./U.S. NTDP) of Michigan is the lone current college player on the U.S. team after his second-team All-Big Ten freshman season.
Minnesota State sophomore Marc Michaelis (Mannheim, Germany/Green Bay-USHL) is the second Maverick in as many years to play in the tournament, following teammate Daniel Brickley last season. Michaelis is a two-time first-team All-WCHA selection.
North Dakota sophomore Ludvig Hoff (Oslo, Norway/Lincoln-USHL) represents his country for the second time this season after also appearing in the Olympics. Hoff had nine points in 25 games this year for the Fighting Hawks.
Colleges are also represented behind the benches, highlighted by former Ferris State goaltender and Western Michigan head coach Jeff Blashill leading the U.S. team. He is assisted by NCAA alumni Dan Bylsma (Bowling Green) and Don Granato (Wisconsin).
Swedish head coach Rickard Gronberg played at St. Cloud State, while UMass Lowell alum Laurent Meunier is an assistant with France.
| NCAA Alumni at the IIHF World Championship | ||
| Austria | ||
| Brian Lebler | F | Michigan |
| Peter Schneider | F | Notre Dame |
Canada |
||
| Tyson Jost | F | North Dakota |
| Curtis McElhinney | G | Colorado College |
| Colton Parayko | D | Alaska |
| Jaden Schwartz | F | Colorado College |
Denmark |
||
| Nick Jensen | F | SUNY-Plattsburgh |
| Oliver Lauridsen | D | St. Cloud State |
| Patrick Russell | F | St. Cloud State |
France |
||
| Stephane da Costa | F | Merrimack |
| Guillaume Leclerc | F | UMass Lowell |
Germany |
||
| Marc Michaelis* | F | Minnesota State |
| Frederik Tiffels | F | Western Michigan |
Korea |
||
| Matt Dalton | G | Bemidji State |
| Brock Radunske | F | Michigan State |
Latvia |
||
| Ralfs Freibergs | D | Bowling Green |
Norway |
||
| Ludvig Hoff* | F | North Dakota |
Slovakia |
||
| David Bondra | F | Michigan State |
Sweden |
||
| Gustav Nyquist | F | Maine |
United States |
||
| Cam Atkinson | F | Boston College |
| Will Butcher | D | Denver |
| Blake Coleman | F | Miami |
| Scott Darling | G | Maine |
| Johnny Gaudreau | F | Boston College |
| Brian Gibbons | F | Boston College |
| Quinn Hughes* | D | Michigan |
| Nick Jensen | D | St. Cloud State |
| Keith Kinkaid | G | Union |
| Chris Kreider | F | Boston College |
| Dylan Larkin | F | Michigan |
| Anders Lee | F | Notre Dame |
| Alec Martinez | D | Miami |
| Jordan Oesterle | D | Western Michigan |
| Neal Pionk | D | Minnesota Duluth |
| Tage Thompson | F | Connecticut |
| Colin White | F | Boston College |