The U.S. National Junior Team’s final roster will be announced Sunday at 3 a.m. ET. That’s not a typo. USA Hockey was expected to announce the final roster following Team USA’s final World Junior tuneup against Finland today, but that is apparently no longer the case.
USA Hockey initially said a few weeks back that it would name the team on Dec. 23, only to change the date to Dec. 22 at the New York camp. Now they’ve had to alter plans again.
This sudden change in timing is highly irregular from the way things have been done in the past. Perhaps Team USA’s 5-1 loss to Finland today forced some reevaluation from the USA staff about what they want to do. That, or perhaps a player was injured and they need more time for evaluation.
It’s all up for speculation now, but for whatever reason USA Hockey’s staff needed an extra day to make these tough decisions.
The delay in cuts is perhaps good news for the players that were scratched today: Patrick Sieloff, Brady Skjei and Jimmy Vesey. They looked to be on the outs with their being scratched this morning as the U.S. staff was hoping to get some reps with their final roster.
If the U.S. staff simply needs more time to evaluate the information they have on all the players, it really flips everything on its head in terms of projecting the final roster.
Even though it will be during the wee hours of the morning, you can count on United States of Hockey to have in-depth reaction to the roster immediately after it is unveiled. So go out, revel in the holiday spirit, come back and find out who made Team USA.
The United States of Hockey 
Would like to see Vesey over Matteau. Matteau’s big body can’t be fully utilized in Russia. I like Vesey’s skating ability and defensive capability. The Matteau/Vesey battle is pretty much a battle for the 4th line/13th forward role. I’d rather have a Vesey that is more versatile and more reliable than a power forward like Matteau. I think you will find that players like Matteau and Biggs will struggle with the pace of the game. Back end I was a believer since the beginning to go with the 3 offensive dmen. But I feel like your always right, so I kept asking myself, How on earth can they choose 1 of these 3 and say they didn’t quite do it for them? They are game changers and I think these 3 will turn heads this tournament. USA has arguably the best d core this year. So excited to watch them play.
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Vesey is a no-brainer. He is a city kid with leadership. if these guys who are putting this team together think they know hockey and let him go, good luck. When was the last gold metal for US?
Hope they make the right choice. Win with Vesey or lose without him.
Totally agree with James. Guys like Matteau & Biggs are built for North American ice, not international ice. I don’t see how either one of those guys makes the team over Vesey.