Six players from New England made USA Hockey’s preliminary roster for the 2022 World Junior Championship. This year’s preeminent event in junior hockey takes place from December 26, 2021, through January 5, 2022, in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. The Americans, with Providence head coach Nate Leaman (East Greenwich, R.I.) at the helm, will look...
Six players from New England made USA Hockey’s preliminary roster for the 2022 World Junior Championship. This year’s preeminent event in junior hockey takes place from December 26, 2021, through January 5, 2022, in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.
The Americans, with Providence head coach Nate Leaman (East Greenwich, R.I.) at the helm, will look to repeat as Gold Medal champion. Leaman will be assisted by Harvard head coach Ted Donato (Scituate, Mass.) and former Providence assistants Kris Mayotte, now the head coach at Colorado College, and Steve Miller, an associate head coach at Ohio State.
A pair of New England natives, Michigan sophomore center Matt Beniers (Hingham, Mass.) and Providence sophomore left wing Brett Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) are returning players from the 2021 team. Both are expected to be locks for the red, white and blue.
Joining them on the preliminary roster are Michigan freshman right Mackie Samoskevich (Newtown, Conn.), Harvard freshman defenseman Ian Moore (Concord, Mass.), UMass freshman defenseman Scott Morrow (Darien, Conn.) and Boston University sophomore goaltender Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.).
Commesso has struggled in his sophomore season, but he’s expected to be the starter for the U.S. when the event begins the day after Christmas. Two goaltenders with ties to New England are among those vying to unseat Commesso or at the very least serve as a backup. Former Dexter Southfield goaltender and Boston College commit Dylan Silverstein of the U.S. NTDP U-18 team is one of them. The other is UMass freshman Luke Pavicich.
While not from New England, Harvard freshman center Matt Coronato and Quinnipiac sophomore center Ty Smilanic also made the preliminary roster for the Americans.
The U.S. team is expected to be anchored by a strong defense, led by returners Jake Sanderson (North Dakota), Brock Faber (Minnesota), and Tyler Kleven (North Dakota). The only other returner outside of Beniers and Berard is Notre Dame sophomore left wing Landon Slaggert.
