Pat Ferschweiler (Rochester, Minn.), who spent the last four years as an assistant coach for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, will serve as head coach for the 2019 U.S. Under-18 Men's Select Team that will compete in the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Ferschweiler will be joined behind the bench by assistant coaches Mark Dennehy (Andover, Mass./Binghamton Devils (AHL)), Roger Grillo (Providence, R.I./USA Hockey) and Kevin Moore (Belle Mead, N.J./Adrian College).
This is the second time Ferschweiler will lead a U.S. team in international competition after leading the U.S. Under-17 Men's Select Team to a championship at the 2017 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament. A year ago, Ferschweiler served as an assistant coach on the U.S. Under-18 Men's Select Team that finished fourth at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.
The U.S. support staff will feature five returnees from last year's staff in athletic trainer Kevin Krueger (Gulf Breeze, Fla.), equipment manager Nate LaPoint (Stoughton, Wis.), team physician Chris Bookout (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) and team leader Mark Kumpel (Wakefield, Mass.). Kevin McLaughlin (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey development, will serve as general manager.
The roster for the 2019 U.S. Under-18 Men's Select Team will be chosen following the conclusion of the week-long Boys Select 17 Player Development Camp, which opens today at Northtown Center in Amherst, New York. The annual USA Hockey Boys Select 17 Player Development Camp provides top young players with on- and off-ice training and instruction as well as the opportunity to compete at the national level against other top players from their age group.
For a camp roster and schedule, click here.
NOTES: At the 2019 NHL Draft last weekend, 59 American players were drafted, including 52 who skated in a USA Hockey Player Development Camp ... The 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup will include teams from Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States … Team USA has finished in the top three of the Hlinka tournament 13 times since the tournament began in 1991. The U.S. earned first place in 2003, second on nine occasions (1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2016) and third three times (1991, 1995, 2014).