Image by Getty Images via @daylifeMEN’S HOCKEY – DECEMBER 5, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - University of North Dakota sophomore defenseman Derek Forbort has been named to the preliminary roster of the 2012 United States National Junior Team, announced today by USA Hockey.
The group will gather for a camp in Camrose, Alberta, on Dec. 17, with the final 22-player U.S. National Junior Team roster expected to be named Dec. 22. The camp will include exhibition games against Russia (Dec. 20), Switzerland (Dec. 21) and Slovakia (Dec. 23).
The 2012 U.S. National Junior Team will compete at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2010-Jan. 5, 2011, in Calgary and Edmonton, Alta. Team USA will look to earn its third straight medal after capturing the bronze medal at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, N.Y., and the gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship in Saskatoon, Sask.
Forbort was key member on the 2011 U.S. team that won the bronze medal in Buffalo, N.Y. The Duluth, Minn., native appeared in all six games and helped lead the U.S. to its second straight medal.
In 16 games this season with the 19th-ranked Fighting Sioux, Forbort has a goal (PPG) and three assists. A first-round draft pick, 15th overall, of the Los Angeles Kings in 2010, Forbort produced 15 assists and led all Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) rookie defensemen with plus-21 in 38 games as a freshman last season.
