Dec. 22, 2011
Colorado Springs, Colo. – USA Hockey today named its 22-man roster for the upcoming 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championships that will be held in Calgary and Edmonton, Alta., from Dec. 26, 2011 to Jan. 5, 2012. The tournament includes the best players from around the world under the age of 20.
Selected to the team from the pre-tournament camp are Notre Dame sophomore defenseman Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.) and sophomore center T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.). The duo become the 14th and 15th Notre Dame players selected to the U.S. Junior National Team since 1976-77 and are the first since Kyle Palmieri played on the 2010 gold-medal winning team. This also marks the sixth time that the Irish have had two or more players named to the same Junior National Team.
In making the announcement, Jim Johannson, the general manager for the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team said, “Every year this decision seems to get harder. The number of talented players from which we get to form a team says a lot about hockey’s growth in the United States as a whole.”
Head coach Dean Blais added, “Having been behind the bench when we won the gold medal two years ago, I can’t wait to get started again. This is an incredible group of players whose speed and tenacity should help us succeed in Edmonton and Calgary.”
Johns and Tynan were named to the 29-man preliminary roster on Dec. 5 and participated in a pre-tournament camp that started on Dec. 17 in Camrose, Alta., and included exhibition games versus Russia (Dec. 20) and Switzerland (Dec. 21). From that 29-man roster, the final 22 players were chosen. The U.S. plays one more exhibition game – on Friday, Dec. 23 versus Slovakia.
The 2012 IIHF World Junior Championships will begin for the United States on Monday, Dec. 26 versus Denmark at 6:00 p.m. (MT) from Edmonton, Alta. All U.S. games will be televised live on the NHL Network. The tournament will run through Thurs., Jan. 5 when the third-place and championship games will be played in Calgary, Alta.
The United States roster includes seven returnees from the 2011 bronze-medal winning team. This is the first appearance for both Johns and Tynan.
Johns is a 6-4, 230-pound defenseman who has been a regular on the Notre Dame blue line in each of his first two seasons. A 2010 second-round draft choice of the Chicago Black Hawks, Johns has played in all 20 games this season and has two goals and four assists for six points with one power-play goal and one game winner. He is +5 on the season and has 17 penalties for 59 minutes. As a freshman in 2010-11, Johns played in 44 games, scoring a pair of goals with 11 assists for 13 points. He led the Irish with 98 penalty minutes.
Tynan is a 5-8, 167-pound center and has led Notre Dame in scoring in each of his first two seasons. A third-round draft choice of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Tynan has played in all 20 games for the Irish this season and leads the team with seven goals and 20 assists for 27 points. He has three power-play goals, one short-handed tally and a game winner on the year. His 20 assists tie him for first in the nation and lead the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) while his 27 points tie him for third nationally and lead the CCHA.
As a freshman, Tynan was the top freshman scorer in the nation with 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points in 44 games. He was named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association national rookie of the year while also being the CCHA rookie of the year. A second-team all-CCHA selection, Tynan was Notre Dame’s team most valuable player and the offensive player of the year.
While Johns and Tynan play on the world stage, their Irish teammates are on break for the Christmas holidays and will next be in action on Saturday, December 31s when they play host to Boston University at the Compton Family Ice Arena in a 7:05 p.m. game. That contest will be televised live nationally by VERSUS. Notre Dame is 11-6-3 overall at the break and ranked sixth in the nation while Boston University is 10-5-1 overall and ranked ninth nationally.
Notre Dame Participants In The IIHF World Junior Championships
Jack Brownschidle (1976-77, 1977-78) Brett Lebda (2001-02)Ben Simon (1996-97, 1997-98) Kyle Lawson (2006-07)Joe Dusbabek (1997-98) Ian Cole (2007-08, 2008-09)Dan Carlson (1998-99) Teddy Ruth (2008-09)Connor Dunlop (1999-00, 2000-01) Kyle Palmieri (2009-10)Brett Henning (1999-00) Stephen Johns (2011-12)David Inman (1999-00) T.J. Tynan (2011-12)Rob Globke (2000-01, 2001-02)