Dec. 24—ST. PAUL — All three of UND's Team USA hopefuls are headed to the World Junior Championship.
UND defenseman E.J. Emery, forward Will Zellers and 2026 goalie recruit Caleb Heil made the American under-20 team and will compete at the World Junior Championship beginning Friday in St. Paul.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTeam USA opens against Germany at 5 p.m. Friday in Grand Casino Arena.
The Americans made their final two cuts after Tuesday night's exhibition against Finland. They were forward Jacob Kvasnicka and defenseman Blake Fiddler.
"It's always difficult to settle on our final roster and that's a credit to the great players we have in our country and all those that have supported them along the way," U.S. general manager John Vanbiesbrouck said. "We're excited about playing at home this year in the World Juniors and we look forward to getting the tournament started on Friday."
This is the fourth time UND has had three Americans at a single World Juniors, tying the school record. UND also had three American World Junior members in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMatt Greene, Matt Jones and Zach Parise were on the 2003 team. Parise, Brady Murray and Drew Stafford led the U.S. to its first-ever gold medal in the event in 2004. T.J. Oshie, Brian Lee and Taylor Chorney were on the 2006 team.
UND also has three representatives on the Canadian team — the most in school history. UND had two members on the Canadian team twice — 1982 and 1983.
Forward Cole Reschny, defenseman Keaton Verhoeff and 2026 defenseman recruit Ethan MacKenzie will play for Team Canada, which opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Czechia in 3M Arena at Mariucci.
This also sets a school record for the highest number of UND/UND-bound players at a single World Juniors.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe previous record was four (2003, 2004, 2006).
Emery was among the final cuts last year, but made the U.S. squad after a strong first half with the Fighting Hawks. Emery, a defensive defenseman, has played a shutdown role for the No. 4-ranked Fighting Hawks. He's also scored two goals and tallied four points.
Zellers was a late addition to the American team.
He was not on the initial camp invite list, but got the call a week later after a hot start to his freshman season. Zellers has 10 goals and 15 points in 18 games for the Fighting Hawks. He scored twice in an exhibition with Team USA this week.
Heil, who plays for Madison in the United States Hockey League, is one of three goalies on the final U.S. roster.
Heil started Tuesday's exhibition and
stopped nine of 10 shots
for the Americans.
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