Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League today announced that 11 current CHL players have been named to the Preliminary Roster for the 2013 U.S. National Junior Team which was released by USA Hockey today.

A total of 27 players will attend training camp Dec. 16-18 at the New York Rangers’ Madison Square Garden Training Center in Tarrytown, N.Y. An additional camp will follow in Helsinki, Finland, with the final 23-man roster announcement scheduled for Dec. 23.

The 2013 U.S. National Junior Team will compete at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2012-Jan. 5, 2013, in Ufa, Russia.

“We have a young, but talented group of players,” said Jim Johannson, general manager of the 2013 U.S. National Junior Team and also the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. “There will be some tough choices to get to the final roster, but that’s certainly a good problem to have.”

Three invitees were members of the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team, including goaltender John Gibson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kitchener Rangers) and forward J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio/Connecticut Whale) who is a former member of the Plymouth Whalers.

CHL Players on Team USA Preliminary Roster:

Goaltenders:

John Gibson (Kitchener Rangers)

Garret Sparks (Guelph Storm)

Defencemen:

Seth Jones (Portland Winterhawks)

Connor Murphy (Sarnia Sting)

Patrick Sieloff (Windsor Spitfires)

Forwards:

Tyler Biggs (Oshawa Generals)

Alex Galchenyuk (Sarnia Sting)

Ryan Hartman (Plymouth Whalers)

Stefan Matteau (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)

Stefan Noesen (Plymouth Whalers)

Vince Trocheck (Saginaw Spirit)

For the complete preliminary roster, click here.

Team USA will compete in a group with Canada, Germany, Russia and Slovakia at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.

For more information visit www.usahockey.com.