WJC Preliminary Rosters Include Terriers from Three Countries
December 8, 2015 | Men's Ice Hockey
BOSTON - Three countries have included a combined seven current and future Terriers on their preliminary rosters for the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship, which will be held Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 in Helsinki, Finland.
The United States, Canada and Sweden have all announced their rosters, which included four players on the current BU squad and three members of next year's incoming class. All seven are first-time invitees to their respective camps.
Freshman Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson was named to Sweden's roster, sophomore Brandon Hickey was one of two NCAA players selected to Canada's roster and freshman Charlie McAvoy and sophomore Brandon Fortunato joined future Terriers Kieffer Bellows, Clayton Keller and Chad Krys on the U.S. roster.
Fortunato, Hickey and McAvoy make up half of the Terriers' defenseman corps while Forsbacka Karlsson has been centering BU's top forward line the past five weeks. Keller and Bellows are the top two scorers on this year's U.S. National Under-18 Team and Krys is one of the squad's top defensemen.
BU will host Team USA's training camp at Agganis Arena from Dec. 14-18 before the squad moves on to an additional camp in Vierumaki, Finland, from Dec. 19-24. The final 23-man roster is expected to be named by Dec. 24.
Hickey will head to Team Canada's selection camp, which will be held Dec. 10-14 in Etobicoke, Ontario, while Forsbacka Karlsson will head overseas next week to join his countrymen in preparations for the World Junior Championship.
Forsbacka Karlsson and Fortunato are tied for third on the Terriers in scoring with 14 points apiece on four goals and 10 assists. Among the nation's freshmen, Forsbacka Karlsson ranks tied for fifth in assists while Fortunato is tied for third in the country among defensemen in points per game (0.93). Hickey has eight points on the strength of five goals and McAvoy has put up six points on a goal and five assists.
