PLYMOUTH, MI – Michigan State goaltender Trey Augustin, along with Boston College forwards Ryan Leonard and Will Smith, failed to win an NCAA title with their respective teams last season. . But the trio has a chance to finish the spring with a gold medal.
On Sunday, Augustin, Leonard and Smith were among nine players added to Team USA’s roster for the upcoming IIHF Men’s Hockey World Championship, which begins May 10 in the Czech Republic. They are three current college players on a roster made up mostly of NHL players, some of whom are college hockey alumni.
The roster, coached by Minnesota Wild bench boss John Hynes, includes forwards Mikey Eisimont (Tampa Bay Lightning/St. Cloud State) and Brock Nelson (New York Islanders/North Dakota State) and defenseman Matthew Kessel. (St. Louis) will also be added. Louis Bruce/Massachusetts State University), Michael Kesselring (Utah NHL/Northeastern), Jeff Petry (Detroit Red Wings/Michigan State University)
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Forward Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings/Michigan State) was previously announced as a member of Team USA, but will not be available for the world championships as he continues to rehabilitate an injury sustained in March. became.
The American team is currently training in Slovakia and will play its first pre-tournament game against Slovakia on Tuesday. The first of seven qualifying round matches will be against Sweden on Friday 10th May in Ostrava, Slovakia.
Augustin, a Red Wings draft pick, helped the Spartans to regular season and Big Ten tournament titles as a freshman and was named the conference’s top rookie goaltender.
The U.S. team, which finished fourth at the 2023 world championships, has finished in the top four in seven of the past 10 seasons and won four bronze medals.
Jess Myers covers college hockey, the outdoors, all things sports and travel for The Rink Live and Forum Communications family of publications. He came to the FCC in 2018 after 30 years covering sports as a freelancer for various publications while working full time in politics and media relations. A native of Warroad, Minnesota (actual Hockeytown USA), Myers earned a degree in Journalism/Communications from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He lives in the Twin Cities. Email Jess at jrmyers@forumcomm.com or find him on Twitter @JessRMyers. someone who speaks English.
