Michigan State University Athletics
Slater Earns Spot on US National Team
4/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
April 27, 2006
Colorado Springs, Colo. - Former Spartan captain Jim Slater is among the first 15 selections by USA Hockey to represent the United States at the 2006 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Riga, Latvia, May 5-21. The final Team USA roster, which will be comprised of three goaltenders and 20 skaters, will be announced in early May.
"I like the team we have put together so far," said Paul Holmgren, general manager of Team USA and the assistant general manager of the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers. "We've got a number of players with World Championship experience as well as several younger guys that are likely going to be part of our program for many years to come."
Team USA's roster includes seven players that have previously played in the IIHF World Championship. The group includes defensemen Joe Corvo (Oak Park, Ill./Los Angeles Kings/2003) and Hal Gill (Concord, Mass./Boston Bruins/2000, 2001, 2004, 2005) and forwards Dustin Brown (Ithaca, N.Y./Los Angeles Kings/2004), Andy Hilbert (Lansing, Mich./Boston Bruins/2002, 2004), Ryan Malone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Penguins/2004), Richard Park (Seoul, South Korea/Vancouver Canucks/2002, 2004, 2005) and Marty Reasoner (Honeoye Falls, Mich./Boston Bruins/2002, 2003).
Slater, who just completed his rookie year with the Atlanta Thrashers, is one of seven players named who are under the age of 25; the list also includes goaltenders Craig Anderson (Park Ridge, Ill./Chicago Blackhawks) and Jason Bacashihua (Garden City, Mich./St. Louis Blues); defenseman Andrew Alberts (Minneapolis, Minn./Boston Bruins); and forwards Brown, Ryan Kesler (Livonia, Mich./Vancouver Canucks), , and Drew Stafford (Milwaukee, Wis./University of North Dakota).
Rounding out the first group of players named is defenseman Brooks Orpik (San Francisco, Calif./Pittsburgh Penguins), who was a member of the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2000 IIHF World Junior Championship; and Mark Cullen (Moorhead, Minn./Chicago Blackhawks), who is making his debut with Team USA.
Team USA will play with an exhibition game against Slovenia on May 2 at 12 p.m. EDT before beginning competition in the IIHF World Championship on May 5 at 9:15 a.m. EDT against Norway. The United States will play two additional preliminary round games against Denmark (May 7) and Canada (May 9) before advancing to qualification round action.
