June 24, 1998

Two members of the 1998-99 Notre Dame hockey team–sophomore left wing Dan Carlson (Edina, Minn.) and freshman center Brett Henning (Buffalo Grove, Ill.)–are among 55 players who have been invited by USA Hockey to the 1998 under-20 Summer Challenge, to be held Aug. 7-15 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

The players will be divided into two U.S. teams (East and West), which will face under-20 national teams from Finland, Switzerland and Sweden during the week-long, round-robin tournament. Finland won the gold medal at the 1998 World Junior Championship in Helsinki, Finland, while Switzerland took home the bronze. The USA Hockey Summer Challenge, won last year by Team USA West, also serves as an evaluation camp for the 1998-99 U.S. junior national team.

Carlson is one of 14 veteran U.S. college players who were invited to the camp while Henning is one of 21 incoming college players who were invited. Notre Dame was one of 12 schools with multiple invitees, with Michigan State, the University of Minnesota and Boston University leading the way with four invitees each while the University of Wisconsin had three players invited. Other schools with two invitees include Bowling Green, Lake Superior State, Michigan, Maine, Boston College, St. Cloud State and Colorado College.

The Central Collegiate Hockey Association led the nation’s four conferences with 13 players invited (from the above schools, plus Miami) while 11 of the invitees are from Western Collegiate Hockey Association teams and 10 from Hockey East clubs (the other two hail from the East Coast Athletic Conference).

Henning is one of 19 invitees who were members of the 1997-98 U.S. under-18 national team, which recently completed its 150-game inaugural season based out of Ann Arbor, Mich.

The invitees include 10 returning members of the 1997-98 U.S. junior national team that placed fifth at the World Junior Championship (current Notre Dame junior forwards Ben Simon and Joe Dusbabek also were members of the ’97-’98 team). Leading the returnees is Plymouth Whalers forward David Legwand, the Ontario Hockey League’s MVP and Rookie of the Year who is expected to be among the top picks in the upcoming NHL draft on June 27.

Other junior national team veterans include forwards Kevin Colley (Oshawa Generals), Brian Gionta (Boston College), Scott Gomez (Tri-City Americans), Ty Jones (Spokane Chiefs), Dustin Kuk (University of Wisconsin) and defensemen Jay Leach (Providence College), Paul Mara (Plymouth Whalers), Chris St. Croix (Kamloops Blazers) and Nikos Tselios (Plymouth Whalers). Mara, Jones and Tselios were first-round picks in the 1997 NHL draft while two other invitees–St. Croix and defensemen Lucas Nehrling–also are previous NHL draft picks.

“We have a good mix of veterans and young players on the roster,” said U.S. national coach Jeff Jackson. “From an evaluation standpoint, the format of the tournament is excellent. We’ll be able to see how the players perform individually and as a team against top-notch international competition.”

The 1998-99 World Junior Championship begins on Dec. 26 in Winnipeg, Canada. The U.S. has posted an 8-4-1 mark over the last two World Junior Championships, its second-best two-year record in the event’s history.

1998 USA Hockey Summer Challenge Game Schedule
Monday, August 10Finland vs. Sweden 5 p.m.USA East vs. Switzerland 8 p.m.Tuesday, August 11USA East vs. Sweden 5 p.m.USA West vs. Switzerland 8 p.m.Wednesday, August 12Sweden vs. Switzerland 5 p.m.USA West vs. Finland 8 p.m.Thursday, August 13Finland vs. USA East 5 p.m.USA West vs. Sweden 8 p.m.Friday, August 14USA West vs. USA East 5 p.m.Finland vs. Switzerland 8 p.m.Saturday, August 153rd Place vs. 4th Place 5 p.m.1st Place vs. 2nd Place 8 p.m.
All games played at 1980 Olympic Arena (Lake Placid, N.Y.), all times are Eastern Standard.
** Full roster of invitees to follow on page 2. **
1998 USA HOCKEY SUMMER CHALLENGE INVITEE LIST
Goaltenders (5) Ht./Wt. Birthdate Catches Hometown/1997-98 Team/1998-99 SchoolBlackburn, Joe 5-11/167 1/26/79 R Livonia, Mich./Michigan State/Michigan StateHauser, Adam 6-1/188 5/27/80 L Bovey, Minn./U.S. National U-18/Univ. of MinnesotaMadden, Chris 6-0/177 3/10/79 L Liverpool, N.Y./Guelph (OHL)Sauve, Philippe 6-1/175 2/27/80 L Buffalo, N.Y./Rimouski (QMJHL)Timm, Shawn 5-10/215 11/9/79 L Lancaster, N.Y./Bowling Green
Defensemen (20) Ht./Wt. Birthdate Shoots Hometown/1997-98 Team/1998-99 SchoolAufiero, Pat 6-1/173 7/1/80 R Winchester, Mass./U.S. National U-18/Boston Univ.Cass, Bill 5-11/208 9/30/80 L Hingham, Mass./U.S. National U-18Dwyer, Aaron 5-10/179 2/3/79 R Apple Valley, Minn./St. Cloud State/St. Cloud State Dyment, Chris 6-3/190 10/24/79 R Reading, Mass./Reading H.S./Boston Univ.Holdridge, Kevin 6-3/202 9/9/80 L Novi, Mich./Plymouth (OHL)Hutchinson, Andrew 6-2/180 3/24/80 R Rochester Hills, Mich./U.S. National U-18/Michigan StateJanik, Doug 6-1/192 3/26/80 L Agawam, Mass./U.S. National U-18/Univ. of MaineJillson, Jeff 6-2/205 7/24/80 R North Smithfield, R.I./Mt. St. Charles Prep/Univ. of Michigan *Leach, Jay 6-5/208 9/2/79 L Altamont, N.Y./Providence College/Providence CollegeLeopold, Jordan 6-0/177 8/3/80 L Golden Valley, Minn./U.S. National U-18/Univ. of MinnesotaMagnuson, Will 6-4/226 2/19/80 L Anchorage, Alaska/U.S. National U-18/Lake Superior State *Mara, Paul 6-4/205 9/7/79 L Belmont, Mass./Plymouth (OHL) Mitchell, Kevin 5-11/165 6/5/80 L Floral Park, N.Y./Guelph (OHL) Nehrling, Lucas 6-5/210 8/14/79 R Dearborn, Mich./Sarnia (OHL) Orpik, Brooks 6-3/190 9/26/80 L Amherst, N.Y./Thayer Academy Prep/Boston College St. Croix, Chris 6-2/185 5/2/79 R Voorhees, N.J./Kamloops (WHL) Stuart, Mike 6-0/188 8/31/80 R Rochester, Minn./Rochester (USHL)/Colorado College Tanabe, Dave 6-1/191 7/19/80 R White Bear Lake, Minn./U.S. Nat'l U-18/Univ. of Wisconsin *Tselios, Nikos 6-4/190 1/20/79 L Glen Ellyn, Ill./Plymouth (OHL) Van Buskirk, Ryan 6-1/190 1/12/80 L St. Clair, Mich./Sarnia (OHL) Forwards (30) Ht./Wt. Birthdate Shoots Hometown/1997-98 Team/1998-99 SchoolArnason, Tyler 5-11/185 3/16/79 L Okla. City, Okla./Fargo-Moorhead (USHL)/St. Cloud StateCarlson, Dan 5-10/190 4/6/79 L Edina, Minn./Notre Dame/Notre DameClark, Kyle 6-6/214 2/14/80 R Essex, Vt./U.S. National U-18/Harvard*Colley, Kevin 5-10/173 1/4/79 R New Haven, Conn./Oshawa (OHL)Connolly, Tim 6-0/175 5/7/81 R Baldwinsville, N.Y./Erie (OHL)Corazzini, Carl 5-10/170 4/21/79 R Framingham, Mass./Boston Univ./Boston Univ.Doman, Matt 6-0/200 2/10/80 R Sartell, Minn./U.S. National U-18/Univ. of WisconsinFerguson, Troy 5-9/146 9/30/80 R Seattle, Wash./U.S. National U-18*Gionta, Brian 5-7/160 1/18/79 R Rochester, N.Y./Boston College/Boston College*Gomez, Scott 5-10/180 12/23/79 L Anchorage, Alaska/Tri-City (WHL)Goodenow, Joe 5-10/172 6/12/80 L Detroit, Mich./U.S. National U-18/Michigan StateHall, Adam 6-2/192 8/14/80 R Kalamazoo, Mich./U.S. National U-18/Michigan StateHeisten, Barrett6-1/184 3/19/80 L Anchorage, Alaska/U.S. National U-18/MaineHenning, Brett 6-0/199 5/7/80 L Buffalo Grove, Ill./U.S. National U-18/Notre DameHilbert, Andy 5-10/184 2/6/81 L Howell, Mich./U.S. National U-18*Jones, Ty 6-3/215 2/22/79 R Eagle River, Alaska/Spokane (WHL)Kim, Alex 5-11/185 5/10/79 R Fullerton, Calif./Miami, Ohio/Miami, OhioKoch, Geoff 6-1/190 6/27/79 L Exeter, N.H./Univ. of Michigan/Univ. of Michigan*Kuk, Dustin 6-1/200 1/29/79 L Livonia, Mich./Univ. of Wisconsin/Univ. of Wisconsin*Legwand, David 6-2/175 8/17/80 L Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Plymouth (OHL)Levesque, Willie6-0/191 1/22/80 R Vineyard Haven, Mass./U.S. National U-18/NortheasternMeyer, Doug 6-1/195 2/21/80 L Bloomington, Minn./U.S. National U-18/Univ. of MinnesotaMorrison, Justin6-3/200 8/10/79 R Los Angeles, Calif./Colorado College/Colorado CollegeMurley, Matt 6-0/165 12/17/79 L Troy, N.Y./Syracuse Jr. (MJHL)/Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst.Murphy, Ryan 6-2/197 3/21/79 L Encino, Calif./Bowling GreenPandolfo, Mike 6-3/226 9/15/79 L Burlington, Mass./St. Sebastians Prep/Boston Univ.Purslow, Chris 5-11/175 10/19/80 R Greenlawn, N.Y./U.S. National U-18Rupp, Mike 6-5/218 1/13/80 L Brunswick, Ohio/Erie (OHL)Vigilante, Mike 5-11/190 8/19/79 L Dearborn, Mich./Lake Superior State/Lake Superior StateWestrum, Erik 5-11/186 7/26/79 L Apple Valley, Minn./Univ. of Minnesota/Univ. of Minnesota * - Member of 1997-98 U.S. junior national team