July 18, 2008

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey today announced the 21-player roster and coaching staff for its 2008 United States Under-18 Select Team. The group will participate in the 2008 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka Tournament August 12-16 in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia.

Team members were chosen from the 2008 USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp, which was held July 7-13 at the National Hockey Center at St. Cloud State (Minn.) University and featured many of America's best hockey players born in 1991.

The U.S. roster features 12 forwards, including Christopher McCarthy (Collegeville, Pa.), Zach Budish (Edina, Minn.), Alex Wideman (St. Louis, Mo.) and Tyler Pitlick (Centerville, Minn.), all who were among the camp's scoring leaders.

The roster also includes seven defensemen, highlighted by Collin Bowman (Littleton, Colo.), Nick Leddy (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Brendan Rempel (Willington, Conn.), who led the camp's defensemen in scoring.

Sharing goaltending duties for Team USA will be John Cullen (Hamburg, N.Y.) and Casey DeSmith (Rochester, N.H.). Cullen led the camp with a .951 save percentage and 2.03 goals-against average, while DeSmith posted a 3.20 GAA for the week.

Seth Appert (Albany, N.Y.), head coach at Rensselaer of ECAC Hockey, will serve as head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Select Team, with Jon Cooper (Green Bay, Wis.), head coach of the United States Hockey League's Green Bay Gamblers, as the assistant coach.

Appert is set to begin his fourth season as head coach at Rensselaer. Prior to his time at RPI, he spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Denver. Appert also served as the assistant coach for the 2007 U.S. Under-18 Select Team that competed in the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka Tournament.

Cooper is entering his first season as head coach of the United States Hockey League's Green Bay Gamblers. He spent the previous five seasons as head coach of the St. Louis Bandits of the North American Hockey League, where he was named NAHL Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2008. Cooper served as head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Select Team that participated in the 2007 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament.

NOTES: The 2008 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka Tournament includes teams from Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States ... The 21 players on the U.S. roster represent 13 different states ... The U.S. roster includes Budish, Leddy, Eamonn McDermott (Shaker Heights, Ohio), Nick Oliver (Wannaska, Minn.), Paul Phillips (Darien, Ill.), Ryan Walters (Rosemount, Minn.) and Steven Whitney (Wakefield, Mass.), who were all members of the U.S. Under-17 Select Team that took part in the 2007 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament in the Czech Republic ... Appert and Cooper are both USA Hockey Level 4 certified coaches ... The annual USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp provides top young players with concentrated on- and off-ice training and instruction as well as the opportunity to compete at a national level against other players from their age group.

Team USA 2008 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka Tournament Schedule
August 12-16 • Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia

*exhibition