COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A tetrad of University of North Dakota hockey players have been invited to the USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp, the organization announced last week. The camp is set for July 24-August 3 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich.
Current defensemen Tyler Kleven and Brent Johnson alongside incoming forwards Jackson Blake and Owen McLaughlin earned invites to the 60-member camp to select teams for the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championships.
"It's going to be a unique camp as we evaluate players for our National Junior Teams that will be competing in the August and December World Junior Championships," said John Vanbiesbrouck, general manager of the U.S. National Junior Team and assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. "We've got two great coaching staffs assembled, and with the deep player pool we have, there will be tough decisions to be made."
The 2022 U.S. National Junior Team will play in the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship August 9-20 in Edmonton, Alberta, and the final 23-player roster is expected to be announced by August 3. The tournament was originally scheduled for Dec. 26, 2021 - Jan. 5, 2022, in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, but was canceled due to COVID.
The roster for the 2023 U.S. National Junior Team, which will play in the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2022 - Jan. 5, 2023, in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Moncton, New Brunswick, is expected to be announced in mid-December.
Kleven, who captured the gold medal at the 2021 version of the event, is looking to become the second player in program history to win two golds at the World Juniors (Jonathan Toews, Canada). Last season, the Fargo, N.D., native scored seven goals and added three assists in 38 games while leading the team with a plus-17 rating.
Johnson comes into his sophomore season after appearing in 23 games as a rookie. Earning more minutes as the season wore on, he saw action in 13 of the team's final 14 contests, including scoring a pair of goals against Colorado College and Notre Dame.
Blake comes to North Dakota this season after a stellar campaign for the Chicago Steel in the United States Hockey League (USHL). There, he scored 77 points in 61 games, the most by a UND-bound player in the USHL in the last 20 years. He is the son of former UND player Jason Blake.
McLaughlin was also having a breakout campaign in the USHL, helping the Sioux City Musketeers capture the Clark Cup as league champions. He finished with 72 points in 62 contests, adding five assists during the championship run.
North Dakota will announce its entire freshman class at a later date.
