Colorado Springs, CO:
USA Hockey announced on 'NHL Now' on Tuesday night its preliminary roster for the upcoming 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation under 20 World Junior Championship's which will take place Dec. 26th thru Jan. 5th in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia later this month, a roster which included Saginaw Spirit forward Cole Coskey, who is one of 29 American players invited to join Team USA for training camp at Angel of the Wind's Arena (Dec 15-17) in Everett, WA next week, where Coskey will have an opportunity to secure one of the final 23 available roster spots on the 2019 United States National Junior Team.
USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations and GM of the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team John Vanbiesbrouck, a former NHL and Olympic goal tender, is confident this will be one of the deepest groups reporting to USA coach Mike Hastings and his staff in Everett, WA next week.
“As a staff, we've grown more and more excited about this player pool as we've gone through evaluations this fall and we're thrilled to have these 29 players coming to Everett next week,” Vanbiesbrouck said. “The player pool is deeper than it has ever been, and that's credit to all the organizations and volunteers developing the next wave of U.S. Hockey stars. I know (U.S. coach) Hastings and his staff are excited to bring these players together as we begin the challenge of getting to a final roster that will give us the best chance to bring home a gold medal.”
Team USA will be looking to match its North American rival's from team Canada who brought home the gold medal with a 3-1 victory over Sweden in the championship, while the U.S. would settle for a 9-3 victory over the Czech Republic in the bronze medal game at the 2018 IIHF U20 WJC in Buffalo, NY last year.
Coskey, a 19 year old forward from Zion, IL signed an Ontario Hockey League standard player agreement with the Spirit four years ago after rescinding his commitment to play NCAA hockey for the University of Miami Ohio and is currently Saginaw's leading scorer with 27 points (11-goals, 16-assists) through 26 games with the Spirit this year.
After having been invited to two previous NHL training camps as a free agent (Toronto in 2017 and Buffalo in 2018) the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Coskey will again be eligible for the upcoming 2019 NHL entry draft, and a really good showing on a national stage at the 2019 WJC could be exactly what is needed in order for Coskey to put himself back on the radar of NHL scouts.
Coskey had previously appeared on the 2017 NHL central scouting list following an invitation to the 2016 CCM/USA Hockey All American Prospect's game which showcased the top 42 American Hockey players throughout NCAA and Junior hockey in Philadelphia, PA a couple years ago.
One name noticeably absent from the 2019 U.S. roster was Spirit defenseman Bode Wilde, who is having a huge week after signing an NHL entry level contract with the New York Islanders, the team which had drafted him (41st overall) in the second round of the 2018 NHL draft this summer.
Wilde, who has dual citizenship between the U.S. and Canada, grew up playing in the United States National Team Development Program, but left the program this summer after rescinding his commitment to play NCAA hockey for the University of Michigan in order to sign with the Spirit, where he felt the OHL schedule and style of play would better prepare him for the grind of an NHL season.
Coskey and Wilde will look to get Saginaw back in the win column after a bitter loss to the Soo Greyhounds this past Saturday night when the Spirit kick off a 3 game road trip against the Niagara Ice Dogs with a 7 pm face off at the Meridian Centre in Niagara, ON tomorrow night.
View the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team Preliminary Roster here:
Video of Cole Coskey goal celly Sat Dec 1, against the Soo Greyhounds:
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Dec 06, 2018
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