Wednesday afternoon USA Hockey released the official roster that will represent the United States for the 2011 U-18 World Championships that will take place in Germany April 14-24th.A pair of future Badgers were selected to represent the red, white, and blue overseas as they look to win their third straight gold medal in the event.
Jake McCabe (pictured, far left), a 2011 Wisconsin defense recruit was no surprise to make the roster. McCabe, who has been accelerating his studies to graduate early and enroll at Madison in the fall has been a regular top 4 defenseman for the NTDP U-18 squad since returning from a back injury that kept him out the first month or two of the season. The Eau Claire, Wisconsin native has 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) this season in 38 games for the NTDP this season.
Nicolas Kerdiles, a 2012 forward recruit was more of a surprise to make the roster. Kerdiles has spent the majority of this season playing with the NTDP U-17 squad where he has 27 points (17 goals, 10 assists) in 40 games. Kerdiles was promoted to the U-18 squad mid-season and continued to score with 8 points in 12 games. But the Irvine, California native was sent back down to the U-17 squad for the past month and his invite to the U-18 World Championships was up in the air. Kerdiles handled the demotion well and played well since returning to the U-17's, well enough to get invited to Germany.
Update: Here is what United States of Hockey writer Chris Peters had to say about Kerdiles being included on the roster-"Kerdiles is an interesting pick for this team. He actually got called up to the U18s in late January and earned a spot at the U18 Five Nations Cup and performed admirably. However, he was sent back to the U17s. Instead of pouting, all Kerdiles did was up his game. In his last four games with the U17s, he posted five points against USHL competition. Sure enough, he was called back for this tournament and will play as one of four under-agers on the U.S. roster. Kerdiles has great size and strength for a kid his age. His offensive talent is there and he can skate. His style of game lends itself well to the U.S. team."
Team USA will play two exhibition games in Dresden, Germany against Canada and Finland before starting the tournament on April 14th in Crimmitschau, Germany vs. Switzerland. All games will be streamed live by FastHockey.com for a fee.
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