Three former University of Minnesota hockey players will compete in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships starting Tuesday in Switzerland.

Defenseman Keith Ballard and forward Kyle Okposo will play for the U.S. team, forward Thomas Vanek for Austria.

The U.S. team has an exhibition game against Switzerland on Tuesday and then has its first official game against Latvia on Saturday.

Ballard, 26, is playing in the World Championships for the fourth time. He played for the Gophers from 2001-04 and recently completed his fourth NHL season. He had six goals and 28 assists in 82 games this past season for the Florida Panthers.

Okposo, 21, played for the U.S. team in the under-20 IIHF World Championships the past two seasons. In his first full season with the New York Islanders, he was the team’s second-leading scorer with 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points this past season despite missing 17 games with a midseason injury.

Vanek, 25, recently completed his fourth NHL season with the Buffalo Sabres. He led the NHL with 20 power-play goals. He had 40 goals overall and 24 assists for 64 points.

U.S. WINS UNDER-18 WORLDS

Five different players scored as the U.S. team beat Russia 5-0 on Sunday in Fargo, N.D., to win the under-18 IIHF World Championships.

“There is no better way to end the season,” coach Ron Rolston said, “and I am really happy for our players.”

A record crowd of 4,923 attended the game at the Urban Plains Center.

U GOLF EVENT SET

The 35th annual John Mariucci Golf Open will be held Monday, June 8 at Stone Ridge Golf Club in Styillwater.

The cost is $175 and it is limited to 200 entrants. That covers green fees, a golf cart, on-course beverages, gifts, a buffet dinner and a donation to the hockey program.

The five-person scramble will begin with a shotgun start at 12:30 a.m.

Gophers coach Don Lucia and others will speak during dinner.

For more information, call Gary Heinrich (651-739-9676) or Mark Bahr, the Gophers director of hockey operations (612-624-6889) or e-mail blueline@umn.edu.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Gophers men's hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.