All four Gophers at the USA Hockey national junior evaluation camp at Lake Placid, N.Y., made the first cut.

Coach Dean Blais trimmed the roster from 42 to 29 players who will play four games against a team from Russia this week. The Gophers still playing are sophomore forward Jordan Schroeder, who has played on the last two U18 U.S. teams in the World Junior Championships; sophomore defenseman Aaron Ness, freshman forward Zach Budish and freshman defenseman Nick Leddy.

Also still in camp are the other forward Minnesotans invited there: forwards Danny Kristo of Eden Prairie and Derek Stepan of Hastings, defenseman Jake Gardiner of Minnetonka and goalie Mike Lee of Roseau.

Kristo will be a freshman at North Dakota this season, Stepan and Gardiner will be sophomores at Wisconsin, and Lee a freshman at St. Cloud State.

“We kept five defensive pairs and five forward lines, and all of them will have a chance to show what they can do against Russia,” said Dean Blais, head coach of the 2010 U.S. National Junior Team. “Even after this camp ends, we will continue to evaluate all of these players, including those who are heading home now.”

The World Junior Championships are Dec. 26-Jan. 5 this winter and typically several Gophers make the U.S. team.   Â

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 11:03 am 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.