Beecher, York Named to Team USA Junior Preliminary Roster
12/9/2019 5:37:00 PM | Ice Hockey
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- University of Michigan ice hockey freshmen Johnny Beecher and Cam York have been selected to the 2020 U.S. National Junior Team preliminary roster, it was announced Monday (Dec. 9) on the NHL Network.
The pair will participate in a training camp at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, on Dec. 16-17 before heading to Ostrava, Czech Republic, to continue preparations for the tournament.
Team USA will compete against Sweden in a pre-tournament game on Sunday, Dec. 22 at noon EST in Cesky Tesin, Czech Republic. Team USA's final pre-tournament game will be versus Germany on Dec. 23 at 11 a.m. EST in Havirov, Czech Republic.
USA Hockey expects to name the final 23-player roster by Dec. 24.
Beecher and York lead the Wolverines in scoring with nine points this season.
Beecher, a forward, has scored a team-high five goals and adds four assists through 16 games. He leads all Big Ten freshmen in game-winning goals scored (two) and in faceoffs won (147 - 54.4 percent). Beecher won a bronze medal at the U18 World Juniors last year, with four points in seven games. The previous year, he won gold with the U17 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. A native of Elmira, New York, Beecher was selected 30th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
York's nine points have come in the 14 games he has played, and he leads all Big Ten freshmen defenseman in scoring. Of his four goals, two have come on the power play and one was a game-winner. He adds a team-high five assists and is fourth on the team in blocked shots with 18. Last year, he won a bronze medal with the U18 World Junior Championship and was named to the All-Star team, led the tournament in plus/minus-rating with a +13, and had the most points (11), goals (four) and assists (seven) by a defenseman. The previous season, York won a silver medal at the 2018 U18 World Junior Championships, again being named to the All-Star team, and captured gold at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge. A native of Anaheim, California, York was selected 14th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, York
Team USA will enter the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship having earned a medal in four consecutive World Junior Championship events for the first time in U.S. history. In total, Team USA has won a medal in seven of the last 10 IIHF World Junior Championship tournaments, earning gold in 2010, 2013, and 2017, silver in 2019 and bronze in 2011, 2016 and 2018.
If selected for Team USA's final roster, Beecher and York could miss the Great Lakes Invitational (Dec. 30-31). The Michigan pair likely would return for Michigan's first Big Ten game of 2020 on Jan. 10Â at Notre Dame.
