By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
The United States Premier Hockey League congratulates its seven Junior alumni who were named to the Team USA squad that will play at the World University Games, running Jan. 12-23, 2025, to be held in Torino, Italy. The alumni include five former USPHL Premier players and four who played in the National Collegiate Development Conference. All of the players announced for the roster are currently playing for teams in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA).
Just over one year after the World University Games, the city of Torino will join Milan, Italy, in co-hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Doug Wakelyn, G, University of Nevada-Las Vegas
Wakelyn played in the 2019-20 season for the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders – seven games with the Premier and one game with the NCDC. Two seasons later, he played a full season with the Pueblo Bulls in 2020-21, when they were also in the Premier.
Konrad Kausch, G, Liberty University
Kausch played for two seasons in the USPHL Premier with the Bridgewater Bandits between 2020-22. During his two seasons in the Premier, he registered 19 wins in 26 games.
Jack Thomas, D, Grand Canyon University
Thomas played with the Islanders Hockey Club’s NCDC team during the 2021-22 season, playing in 19 games and registering six assists.
Lazarus Kaebel, D, Liberty University
Kaebel played for two seasons in the USPHL Premier and NCDC, first playing a full season with the Tampa Bay Juniors in 2020-21, and then in 2021-22, he split the season between the NCDC’s Thunder Hockey Club (formerly the Twin City Thunder) and Philadelphia Hockey Club.
Carter Hobbs, D, Purdue Northwest University
Hobbs was a two-year member of the Minnesota Blue Ox in the USPHL Premier, playing in exactly 100 combined regular season and playoff games between 2020 and 2022, and scored 75 points in that time.
Sebastian Smith, F, Adrian College
Smith played the full 2020-21 season with the former Wooster Oilers in the USPHL Premier. He scored 49 points in 35 games.
Hunter Schmitz, F, Grand Canyon University
Schmitz was a member of the Thunder Hockey Club’s NCDC team during the 2020-21 season, playing in 26 games and registering 11 points.
Best of luck to all of our USPHL junior alumni in Torino!
About the United States Premier Hockey League
Founded in 2012, the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is comprised of over 150 teams, fielding more than 20,000 players aged 8-21 in more than 100 organizations across the North, South, Midwest, West, and Canada. Our Junior Divisions consist of the tuition free Tier II National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC) and our pay-to-play Tier III Premier and Elite conferences, all geared toward college and pro placement.
Our youth and midget divisions (operated through the Tier 1 Hockey Federation) field full season 8U through 18U teams. The USPHL has sent over 8,000 players to all levels of college hockey all-time including over 3,700 into NCAA college hockey, with more than 550 advancing to NCAA Division I hockey. The USPHL has also had 18 players who played in the NCDC drafted by NHL teams.
