E.J. Emery, Hampton Slukynsky named to preliminary U.S. World Junior roster

GRAND FORKS — UND freshman defenseman E.J. Emery is one step closer to making the U.S. World Junior Championship team.

Western Michigan goaltender Hampton Slukynsky of Warroad, Minn., is on it.

USA Hockey announced a 28-player preliminary roster for the World Junior Championship on Monday morning.

Those players, including Emery and Slukynsky, will head to the final camp on Dec. 16-17 in Plymouth, Mich. USA Hockey will take 25 players to the IIHF under-20 event, which is scheduled for Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Ottawa.

The Americans are expected to cut one forward and two defensemen from the camp.

Emery has stepped into a big role as a rookie for the Fighting Hawks as a shutdown defenseman.

He is fourth on UND’s team in average minutes per game at 21:09, only behind sophomores Jake Livanavage (24:01), Abram Wiebe (23:15) and Caleb MacDonald (21:27). Emery has tallied one assist in 15 games.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound right-handed defenseman was selected in the first round of the NHL Draft last summer by the New York Rangers.

Slukynsky is one of three goalies on the roster.

The others are Michigan State’s Trey Augustine and Sam Hillebrandt of the Ontario Hockey League.

The Americans are expected to keep all three.

Slukynsky is having a sensational freshman season at Western Michigan. He is 3-2-1 with a .947 save percentage and a 1.66 goals-against average.

Slukynsky was the United States Hockey League’s goaltender of the year last season with the Fargo Force.

UND rookies Andrew Strathmann and Mac Swanson participated in the U.S. World Junior Summer Showcase but were not selected to the preliminary roster.

UND freshman forward Sacha Boisvert was a candidate for Canada’s World Junior Championship team but was not picked to Canada’s roster, either.

If Emery makes the final roster, he won’t miss any UND regular-season games.

He will leave for camp after the home series against St. Cloud State on Dec. 13-14. He will return before UND’s road trip to Arizona State on Jan. 10-11. The lone competition he would miss is the exhibition with the University of Manitoba on Jan. 4 in Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Goalies
Trey Augustine, Michigan State
Sam Hillebrandt, Barrie (OHL)
Hampton Slukynsky, Western Michigan

Defensemen
Zeev Buium, Denver
E.J. Emery, North Dakota
Blake Fiddler, Edmonton (WHL)
Paul Fischer, Notre Dame
Drew Fortescue, Boston College
Logan Hensler, Wisconsin
Cole Hutson, Boston University
Adam Kleber, Minnesota Duluth
Aram Minnetian, Boston College
Colin Ralph, St. Cloud State

Forwards
Austin Burnevik, St. Cloud State
Trevor Connelly, Providence
Cole Eiserman, Boston University
James Hagens, Boston College
Ryan Leonard, Boston College
Oliver Moore, Minnesota
Danny Nelson, Notre Dame
Chris Pelosi, Quinnipiac
Gabe Perreault, Boston College
A.J. Spellacy, Windsor (OHL)
Teddy Stiga, Boston College
Brandon Svoboda, Boston University
Carey Terrance, Erie (OHL)
Joey Willis, Saginaw (OHL)
Brodie Ziemer, Minnesota

Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald’s circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year once. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.