U.S. Begins 2013 World Juniors Thursday

 

The 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship gets underway Thursday morning for the U.S. National Junior Team in Ufa, Russia against Germany. The Americans went 1-1 in preliminary play, edging Sweden, 3-2, in overtime on Dec. 20 before getting pasted two days later by Finland, 5-1.

According to USCHO.com, Wisconsin sophomore defenseman Jake McCabe has been named captain of the 2013 U.S. National Junior Team, while alternates will include Cornell sophomore forward Cole Bardreau and Michigan freshman defenseman Jacob Trouba.

The U.S. is looking to improve upon last year's showing in Alberta, when it finished out of the medal running at 1-3-0 overall, and was dropped to the relegation pool, where it finished with a 3-0 mark. 

This year's final U.S World Junior roster features 13 current collegians out of a total of 24 players.