Lind and Oleksiak Invited to Select 17 Festival
Story By: Amanda Schmidt
Bensenville (July 15th, 2009) -- This past weekend Chicago Steel defensemen Kevin Lind and Jamie Oleksiak were among 140 players invited to the Select-17 Festival, hosted by USA Hockey in Rochester, New York. The annual festival served as a showcase for not only USA Hockey, NHL, College and Junior scouts and coaches. Furthermore, the event’s standout players will be invited to play for the USA team at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, held this August 11^th-15^th in Slovakia.  

The Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, also known as the U-18 Junior World Cup, took its name in tribute of Czechoslovakian hockey great Ivan Hlinka, who passed away after a car accident in 2004. Hlinka played in two Olympic Games and nine World Championships for Czechoslovakia before joining the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks in 1981. Although he only stayed for two years, Hlinka made a name for himself and his country as he was one of the first Czechs to play in the Stanley Cup finals. Additionally, he can be credited as helping to start the Czech migration to the NHL.

The official roster for the USA team has yet to be announced. This will be the 19^th year of the U-18 Junior World Cup, and its 13^th year in Slovakia. Since its gold medal win in 2003, the USA team has struggled to reach the podium, scoring only one medal in the last five tournaments. Despite a rough few years, the caliber of hockey played this past weekend by the country’s best athletes proves that the USA has the ability to field a strong and talented team to bring home a medal in August.