Aug. 5, 2008
Lake Placid, N.Y. – Three members of the 2008-09 Notre Dame hockey team are among a group of 53 hockey players currently attending the 2008 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp being held at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y. All participating players are candidates for the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2008 to Jan. 6, 2009, in Ottawa, Ontario.
Attending the camp from August 2-9 are sophomore defensemen Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Teddy Ruth (Naperville, Ill.) along with incoming freshman defender Sean Lorenz (Littleton, Colo.). All three are products of USA Hockey’s National Team Developmental Program. Both Cole and Ruth participated in the 2007 Evaluation Camp with Cole playing for the 2008 U.S. National Team last winter in Pardubice and Liberec, Czech Republic.
The camp will feature practices and eight international scrimmages with a split squad of the best American players under the age of 20 facing off against Sweden and Finland. The first scrimmages against Sweden and Finland are set for Tuesday, August 5th.
Cole is a 6-1, 217-pound defenseman who played in 43 games for Notre Dame in 2007-08, scoring eight goals with 12 assists for 20 points, getting four power-play goals and two game winners as the Irish advanced to the NCAA championship game for the first time. A 2007 first-round draft choice, 18th overall of the St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League Entry Draft, Cole played in all six games for the United States in the 2008 World Junior Championships, recording six minutes in penalties. An honorable mention CCHA all-rookie team pick last season, the Ann Arbor, Mich., native has played on the international level for the U.S. Under-17 and Under-18 teams during his career. He was named one of Team USA’s top three players in the Under-18 World Championships in Finland at the end of the 2006-07 season.
Incoming freshman defenseman Sean Lorenz is making his first appearance at the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp.
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Lorenz is a 6-1, 198-pound blueliner who has played the past two seasons with the U.S. National Team Developmental Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. He signed a national letter-of-intent to play for the Irish in November of 2007. With the Under-18 team this past year, Lorenz played in 57 games, scoring four goals with five assists for nine points with 24 minutes in penalties. He was a member of the bronze medal winning United States team at the IIHF Under-18 World Championships this past spring, recording a +5 rating in seven games. Last June, he was selected in the fourth round of the NHL Entry Draft, 115th overall by the Minnesota Wild. He will play his first season for the Irish in 2008-09.
Ruth checks in at 6-0, 200-pounds and was a mainstay on the Notre Dame defense in his rookie season. He played in 40 games, scoring two goals with three assists for five points and tied for second on the team with a +13 plus-minus in helping the Irish to a 27-16-4 record and a trip to the national championship game. Selected as the team’s rookie of the year for 2008, he saw two years of international competition as a member of the U.S. National Team Developmental Program from 2005 to 2007. Selected in the second round, 46th overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Ruth saw his rights traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Sergei Federov at the `07-’08 trading deadline. In 2005-06, Ruth was selected as the most outstanding defenseman at the Four Nations Tournament at Piestany, Slovakia.