PLYMOUTH, Mich. – The journey to making the United States National Junior Team led by Denver Pioneers hockey head coach David Carle begins this week at the World Junior Summer Showcase.
 
This event features 45 U.S. players taking part in a week-long evaluation camp at USA Hockey Arena in preparation for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden, from Dec. 26, 2023 to Jan. 5, 2024.
 
The under-20 American players at the summer camp with be split into two squads (USA Blue and USA White) and will take part in practices and exhibition games from July 27 to Aug. 4 at the home of the U.S. National Team Development Program. Finland and Sweden are also sending teams to Michigan this week, and exhibition games are slated for July 29, July 31, Aug. 2 and Aug. 4.
 
While every American at the Summer Showcase is on USA Hockey's radar to make the team, not every player will be invited again to training camp in December before the final team is announced. Also, it doesn't mean that under-20 players that weren't invited to the Summer Showcase won't be invited to training camp in five months and make Team USA's roster for the World Juniors.
 
Two incoming freshman at Denver are taking part in the camp, with Garrett Brown (San Jose, California) and Zeev Buium (San Diego, California) both set to be on Team Blue this week.
 
Carle was named the head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team on April 4 and will be leading a United States squad in international competition for the first time his career.  The Anchorage, Alaska, native will be joined on the bench by former DU assistants Steve Miller (University of Minnesota) and David Lassonde (USA Hockey) and St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson. Denver Director of Hockey Operations Travis Culhane is also on Carle's staff as the video coach.
 
The United States has won a medal in six of the last eight IIHF World Junior Championships, the best medal stretch in U.S. history. The six medals include two golds (2021, 2017), one silver (2019) and three bronze (2023, 2018, 2016). The United States has won 15 of its last 19 games over the last three World Junior Championships, with a gold (2021) and bronze (2023) medal to its credit during that time.
 

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