June 17, 2010
Notre Dame, Ind. – Four members of the 2010-11 Notre Dame hockey team are among a group of 44 hockey players that have been invited to attend the 2010 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp that will be held in Lake Placid, N.Y., from July 30 through August 7. All participating players are candidates for the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2010 to Jan. 5, 2011, in Buffalo, N.Y.
Attending the camp from Notre Dame are sophomore right wing Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.J.) along with incoming freshmen forward Bryan Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and defensemen Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.) and Jarred Tinordi (Millersville, Md.). All four players are products of USA Hockey’s National Team Developmental Program. Palmieri is one of nine returning players from the gold-medal winning 2010 U.S. Junior National Team.
The camp, which will take place at Lake Placid’s Olympic Center, will feature practices, intra-squad scrimmages and international games versus Finland and Sweden.
Palmieri is a 5-11, 195-pound right wing who was a regular in the Notre Dame lineup during the 2009-10 season. As a freshman for the Irish, Palmieri played in 33 games, scoring nine goals with eight assists for 17 points. Five of his goals came on the power play with a pair of game-winning tallies. With the 2010 U.S. Junior National Team, the fleet-footed right wing was third in scoring with one goal and eight assists for nine points and was +8 for the tournament as he became the first Notre Dame player to win a gold medal in the World Junior Championships and the third Irish player to win a medal (Ben Simon, silver in 1997 and Kyle Lawson, bronze in 2004). A product of the USA Hockey National Team Developmental Program’s Under-18 team, the New Jersey native played in 33 games during the 2008-09 season, scoring 15 goals with 15 assists for 30 points with 51 penalty minutes. He is one of four players who have been invited to the evaluation camp for the third consecutive year. Palmieri was selected in the first round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, 26th overall by the Anaheim Ducks.
Freshman defenseman Stephen Johns
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Rust is a 5-11, 191-pound right wing who joins the Irish this fall after spending the last two seasons with the USA Hockey National Team Developmental Program. As a member of the Under-18 team last season, Rust was sixth on the team in scoring with 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points in 65 games. He had 24 minutes in penalties while scoring five power-play goals and leading the team in short-handed tallies (2) and game-winning goals (7). In the spring, Rust was a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. Under-18 Team that won the World Under-18 championship in Belarus. In seven games, he had four goals and two assists for six points. He was ranked 80th among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s Final Draft Rankings and is expected to be drafted in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft next week.
Freshman defenseman Jarred Tinordi
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Tinordi is a 6-5, 202-pound left-shot defenseman who begins his collegiate career this fall at Notre Dame after playing the last two seasons with the USA Hockey National Team Developmental Program. A strong, physical defenseman, Tinordi played in 65 games for the Under-18 Team in `09-10, scoring six goals with 11 assists for 17 points and 105 minutes in penalties. A member of the gold-medal winning Under-18 Team in the spring, Tinordi had a goal and an assist in seven games and was +8 for the World Under-18 Championships. He was ranked 38th among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s Final Draft Rankings and has been projected as a first or second round draft choice in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft next week.
Johns is a 6-3, 215-pound right-shot defenseman who will again team up with Tinordi at Notre Dame after two seasons as teammates with the USA National Team Developmental Program. A big, rugged defensemen who brings a physical element to the game, Johns played in 62 games for the Under-18 team, picking up three goals with 16 assists for 19 points and 67 penalty minutes. Along with Rust and Tinordi, he was a member of the gold-medal winning Under-18 team that won the World Under-18 championship last April in Belarus. In seven games, he recorded two assists with 10 penalty minutes and was +2 for the tournament. He was ranked 35th among North American skaters in Central Scouting’s Final Draft Rankings and has been projected as a first or second round selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft next week.
Since 1976, Notre Dame has had 13 players play in the World Junior Championships with Palmieri being the last Irish player to make the squad.