University of Minnesota Athletics
Collins Invited to U.S. Junior Camp
6/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) -- Gopher Hockey's Ryan Collins has been invited to the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp, August 1-8, in Lake Placid, N.Y. One of 39 players invited to the camp, Collins will audition for a roster spot on the U.S National Junior Team for the second year in a row as the team takes part in the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship, Dec. 26-Jan. 5, in Helsinki, Finland.
Players will stay at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center while all games and practices will be held at Lake Placid Olympic Center's 1980 Herb Brooks Arena. The U.S. players will practice and compete in international games against Finland and Sweden. Ticket information will be announced at a later date.
A defenseman from Bloomington, Minn., Collins skated in all five games for the U.S. National Junior Team last year at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship in Toronto and Montreal. A freshman for the Gophers last year, Collins tallied nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 32 games with his first career goal coming in a 6-2 win over Penn State on March 14, 2015 to clinch the Big Ten regular-season title. Minnesota went on to add the Big Ten tournament title and earn an NCAA tournament berth for the fourth-straight year.
In addition to competing at last year's World Junior Championship, Collins previously helped USA Hockey earn a gold medal at the 2014 IIHF Under-18 World Championship in Lappeenranta, Finland and bronze medals at the 2013 Five Nations Tournament in Finland and the 2013 World Under-17 Challenge in Canada.
Collins was drafted 47th overall (second round) by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Gopher Hockey has been represented at 38 of 39 IIHF World Junior Championships since the inaugural event in 1977 including 23-straight tournaments since 1993.
