USA Hockey today announced the 20-player roster for the U.S. Under-17 Select Team that will compete in the 2013 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament Aug. 14-18 in Trnava, Slovakia.
The 20 players on the U.S. roster all participated in the USA Hockey Boys’ Select 16 Player Development Camp, which took place from July 7-13 at the Northtown Center at Amherst in Williamsville, NY.
The roster included one player that played in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and one player that played in the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) this past season.
The NAHL was represented by Kenai River Brown Bears goaltender Kris Oldham, who will be one of the two goaltenders on the team. Oldham, who just turned 16 in June, played in one game for the Brown Bears this past season, which turned out to be a 7-5 home win over Wenatchee on March 15th. It made him the youngest player to play a game in the NAHL during the 2012-13 season. Oldham last season played for East High in Anchorage, Alaska and the Alaska Junior Aces 16U team.
“We were excited to have had the ability to sign Kris and get him before the NAHL Draft occurred,” said former Brown Bears head coach Oliver David. “We had him ranked high at his position, and we felt we needed to ensure we had a guy locked up prior to the long summer.”
The NAPHL player that is represented is Tarek Baker, who played for the Omaha AAA Hockey Club 16U team this past season.
The native of Verona, Wisconsin, played in 18 NAPHL regular season games this past season, totaling 22 points. He also had six points in four NAPHL playoff games as the Omaha 16U team went onto win the NAPHL 16U Championship.
He signed an NAHL tender with the Janesville Jets in mid-April. In 67 Games this year, he amassed 34 goals and 61 assists for 95 points. He was also recently selected to attend the USNTDP final evaluation camp in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was also selected in the 7th Round and 134th overall to the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL Priority Selection Draft.
Baker will be returning to the Omaha 16U squad for the 2013-14 season and has been named team captain. He is the second player from the organization to be named to the US squad for the Five Nations Tournament, joining Alex Schoenborn who was on the team in 2011.
“The Omaha AAA Hockey Club is extremely proud of Tarek and his accomplishment of making the US Under 17 5 Nations roster,” said head coach David Wilkie. “Tarek is a very high end player with a bright future and this is yet another positive step for him in his development.”
The U.S. roster features 12 forwards, six defenseman and two goalies. The 20 players on the U.S. roster represent 10 different states. Michigan leads the way with four players, while New York and Illinois each have three.
