USA Hockey Announces 39 Player Roster For Final National Team Camp

USA Hockey invited 39 players to participate in their final evaluation camp later this month in Lake Placid leading up to the World Championships in Utica, New York.

USA Hockey announced their 39 player roster for their final evaluation camp leading up to the 2024 World Championships in Utica, New York.

Of the 39 players, nine forwards, two defenders, and two goaltenders are currently playing in the PWHL, while the other 16 players are currently in the NCAA.

Returning from last year's gold medal winning team are netminders Aerin Frankel and Nicole Hensley, defenders Cayla Barnes, Savannah Harmon, Megan Keller, Rory Guilday, Caroline Harvey, and Haley Winn, and forwards Hilary Knight, Taylor Heise, Hannah Bilka, Alex Carpenter, Lacey Eden, Abbey Murphy, Gabbie Hughes, Tessa Janecke, Kelly Pannek, and Hayley Scamurra.

Notable omissions from the roster included forwards Abbey Roque and Becca Gilmore, and netminder Abbey Levy who are all playing in the PWHL this season. Also not returning this year will be Lee Stecklein, who stepped away from the national program, and Amanda Kessel, who is taking the year off hockey.

Perhaps the most notable returnee to the list is Kendall Coyne Schofield, who captained Team USA until taking a year away from the national team as she started her family.

USA has a notable youth movement in their camp including Annelies Bergmann, Grace Dwyer, Sydney Morrow, Emma Peschel, Laila Edwards, and Kirsten Simms, who all entered 2024 as teenagers.

From the group of NCAA players, USA is bringing seven of the top ten scorers in the nation to camp, including Kirsten Simms who was the top scorer in the NCAA this season with Wisconsin notching 67 points in 34 games. Sydney Morrow had the best points-per-game of any NCAA blueliner this season finishing with 38 points in 30 games with Colgate, only one point behind the NCAA leader, while playing seven fewer games.

The remainder of USA's invited list includes goaltenders Gwyneth Philips, JoJo Chobak, and Callie Shanahan; defenders Sydney Bard, Ally Simpson, and Anna Wilgren; and forwards Jesse Compher, Izzy Daniel, Elle Hartje, Casey O'Brien, Dominique Petrie, and Grace Zumwinkle.

The final USA national team evaluation camp will take place March 27-30 at the Lake Placid Olympic Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.