June 8, 2007
Colorado Springs, Colo. – Three incoming Notre Dame freshmen are among a group of 45 hockey players that have been invited to attend the 2007 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp that will be held August 3-11 in Lake Placid, N.Y. All participating players are candidates for the 2008 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2007 to Jan. 5, 2008, in Pardubice and Liberec, Czech Republic.
Attending the camp in August from Notre Dame are freshmen defensemen Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Teddy Ruth (Naperville, Ill.) along with forward Ben Ryan (Brighton, Mich.). Cole and Ruth are products of USA Hockey’s National Team Developmental Program and where members of the silver-medal winning U.S. Under-18 World Championship team in April. Ryan played for the Des Moines Buccaneers in the United States Hockey League (USHL) in 2006-07.
Defenseman Teddy Ruth
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Joining the coaching staff at the U.S. Junior National Evaluation Camp is Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson who led the Irish to their first CCHA regular-season and post-season titles in `06-’07 as his squad turned in a school-record 32-7-3 record in just his second season behind the bench. The 2007 Spencer Penrose Trophy winner as the national coach of the year, Jackson will be joined by former Yale coach, Tim Taylor and Saint John’s University coach John Harrington. They will assist the National Junior team head coach John Hynes and assistant Keith Allain. All five coaches are USA Hockey Level 5 certified coaches.
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 camp opens on Aug. 3 with the first games scheduled for Aug. 7.
Cole is a 6-1, 211-pound defenseman who played in 49 games this past season for the Under-18 team and had four goals and 16 assists for 20 points and 50 minutes in penalties. He was named one of Team USA’s top three players in the Under-18 World Championships in Finland. Cole is ranked 81st in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for the June Entry Draft.
Ruth teamed up in the same defensive pair with Cole most of the season for the U.S. Under-18 team and is Notre Dame’s top ranked player by NHL Central Scouting as he was ranked 32nd in the final rankings. A 6-1, 199-pound defenseman, Ruth played in 39 games for the Under-18 team and had five goals and 11 assists for 16 points to go with 64 penalty minutes. He had three power-play goals and one game winner on the year.
Center Ben Ryan
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Ryan played his junior hockey for the Des Moines Buccaneers in the USHL where he was third in scoring with 22 goals and 42 assists for 64 points to go with 66 penalty minutes. A 6-0, 195-pound center, Ryan added 10 power-play goals and two game winners in helping Des Moines to a 29-21-10 record and a first-round upset of first-place Omaha. Selected to play in the USHL Prospects/All-Star Game, Ryan is one of seven USHL players that were invited to attend the NHL’s Draft Combine that was held from May 29 through June 2 in Columbus, Ohio, prior to this year’s June Draft.