Seven players with Minnesota ties, including four Gophers, are among 32 named to the preliminary roster for the U.S. junior national hockey team.
The list will be pared to 23 by the time the world junior tournament begins Dec. 26 in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
The four Gophers, all freshmen, are winger Jimmy Snuggerud (Chaska), center Logan Cooley (West Miflin, Pa.) and defensemen Luke Mittelstadt (Eden Prairie) and Ryan Chesley (Mahtomedi).
St. Cloud State defenseman Jack Peart (Grand Rapids), North Dakota forward Jackson Blake (Eden Prairie) and ex-Gophers forward Chaz Lucius (Gentry Academy), who plays for Manitoba of the American Hockey League, are also among the 32.
Team USA, coached by Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold, will have training camp Dec. 12-17 in Plymouth, Mich.
- The Gophers men's hockey team moved up one spot to No. 3 in this week's DCU/USCHO.com rankings. Minnesota received six first-place votes. St. Cloud State is No. 4 and got three first-place votes, and Minnesota State Mankato is 16th.
Etc.
- Gophers sophomore Skylar Vetter was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week. Vetter earned the fifth WCHA weekly honor of her career and fourth this season after stopping 38 of 39 shots in a series sweep of Minnesota State Mankato.
- The St Cloud State women's hockey team (11-8-0) entered the DCU/USCHO.com rankings this week at No. 14. The Huskies have a home-and-home series with the No. 6 Gophers this weekend.
- The Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team (31-6) was ranked second in the final AVCA poll of the season in NCAA Division II. The Golden Bears have finished in the top 10 every year since 2003. St. Cloud State was fifth, and Minnesota Duluth was seventh.
