SCSU defenseman named to USA preliminary roster for World Junior Championships

SCSU vs UND_1142.jpg — St. Cloud State defenseman Jack Peart (23) skates the puck past North Dakota forward Gavin Hain (10) in the third period Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

By Mick Hatten

December 05, 2022 at 4:00 PM

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — St. Cloud State defenseman Jack Peart has a chance to play for Team USA in the IIHF World Junior Championships again.

Peart, a sophomore from Grand Rapids, Minn., is one of 10 defensemen who have been named to the 32-player American roster. The Americans are expected to bring a roster of 13 forwards, seven defensemen and three goalies to the tournament, which will be held Dec. 26, 2022–Jan. 5, 2023, in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The team will have a training camp from Dec. 12-17 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich., before a final roster is chosen.

Peart, a second-round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild, is one eight members of the U.S. team that competed in the most recent World Junior Championships. The other returning members of that team include goalies Kaidan Mbereko (Colorado College) and Andrew Oke (Saginaw Spirit, Ontario Hockey League), defensmen Sean Behrens (Denver) and Luke Hughes (Michigan) and forwards Logan Cooley (Minnesota), Red Savage (Miami) and Charlie Stramel (Wisconsin).

Peart is one of 23 NHL draft picks on the preliminary roster. The other eight players are all draft eligible this summer.

Peart is coming off his best series of this season. He had two goals, three assists and was a plus-5 in two wins over North Dakota and has been named NCHC Defenseman of the Week. For the season, he has 12 assists, 14 points, 17 blocked shots, 10 penalty minutes, 25 shots on goal and is a plus-11 in 16 games.

Peart is averaging 19 minutes per game and is winning 54% of his puck battles.

Peart is the 11th St. Cloud State player to play for Team USA in a World Junior Championships. He is looking to become the third SCSU player (Mark Parrish, 1996-97; Ryan Poehling, 2018-19) to play in two World Junior Championships.

Huskies on USA World Junior roster

1991 — defenseman Tony Burns
1996 — forward Matt Cullen
1996, 1997 — forward Mark Parrish
2003 — goalie Bobby Goepfert
2006 — defenseman Casey Borer
2010 — goalie Mike Lee
2012 — defenseman Kevin Gravel
2016 — defenseman Will Borgen
2017 — defenseman Jack Ahcan
2018, 2019 — forward Ryan Poehling
2022 — defenseman Jack Peart

READ MORE ST. CLOUD STATE HUSKIES COVERAGE:

By Mick Hatten

Mick Hatten is a reporter and editor for Forum News Service and helps manage TheRinkLive.com, a website dedicated to hockey. He began working for Forum Communications in November 2018 and has covered St. Cloud State University hockey since 2010. A graduate of St. Cloud State, he has more than 30 years of experience as a journalist and has been a youth hockey coach since 2014. mhatten@forumcomm.com

For more coverage of St. Cloud and the surrounding communities, check out St. Cloud Live.

SCSU defenseman named to USA preliminary roster for World Junior Championships

Jack Peart is one of 32 players named to the roster, which will be trimmed to 23 before the tournament. Peart, who played in the last World Juniors tournament, is one of 10 defensemen on the preliminary list

Huskies on USA World Junior roster