Jackson Blake appears set to play large role for Team USA at the World Juniors

Dec. 25—MONCTON, N.B. — USA coach Rand Pecknold has formulated his lines for the World Junior Championship.

Of the six forwards who will comprise the top two lines, five are NHL first-round draft picks.

The sixth is Jackson Blake.

The UND freshman forward appears set to play a prime role for the Americans in the world under-20 tournament, which begins Monday in Moncton, N.B., and Halifax, N.S.

The U.S. opens with a pool play game against Latvia at 3 p.m. Monday in Moncton.

It will follow with pool-play games against Slovakia on Wednesday, Switzerland on Thursday and Finland on Saturday. All are 3 p.m. starts and will be carried on NHL Network.

Blake, a fourth-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, is expected to open the tournament playing right wing on the second line for the United States.

That line will be centered by Chaz Lucius of the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose. The left wing will be Michigan freshman Rutger McGroarty. Lucius and McGroarty are both first-round picks of the Winnipeg Jets.

Blake also will play on the second power-play unit on the right flank, the opposite side he plays at UND.

His power-play unit also features Lucius, Minnesota freshman forward Jimmy Snuggerud, Michigan sophomore forward Dylan Duke and UMass sophomore defenseman Ryan Ufko.

Blake earned the prominent role through his excellent play in the first half of the season at UND and through his performance during two weeks of camp with USA Hockey.

The 5-foot-11, 165-pound winger is currently UND's leading scorer with nine goals and 21 points in 19 games. The Eden Prairie, Minn., product has been effective on the power play, where he's scored four times.

Blake finished the first half of the season on a 10-game point streak.

He had some of his best performances in front of the USA coaching staff.

Pecknold is the head coach at Quinnipiac, which played a two-game series in Grand Forks in October. Blake had a goal and an assist each night against the Bobcats.

Team USA's assistant coach is Pat Ferschweiler, the head coach at Western Michigan. In the final series of the first half, Blake made two backdoor setups for goals against the Broncos in Kalamazoo, Mich.

During USA's two pre-tournament exhibition games against Finland and Sweden, Blake scored a power-play goal and tallied an assist.

Blake is UND's lone representative at the World Juniors this year.

He will try to become the fourth UND player to bring home gold in the last four years.

In 2021, Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven won gold for Team USA. In 2020, Jacob Bernard-Docker won gold for Canada.

Blake will miss UND's New Year's Eve exhibition game against the U.S. Under-18 Team due to his participation in the World Juniors.

His availability for UND's next regular-season series — Jan. 6-7 against Lindenwood in Ralph Engelstad Arena — is up in the air. The medal games are scheduled for Jan. 5.

In the past, UND has varied its use of players coming directly from the World Juniors on short rest.

Pool play

Monday — USA vs. Latvia, 3 p.m.

Wednesday — USA vs. Slovakia, 3 p.m.

Thursday — USA vs. Switzerland, 3 p.m.

Saturday — USA vs. Finland, 3 p.m.

Quarterfinals

Monday, Jan. 2 — 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m.

Semifinals

Wednesday, Jan. 4 — 1:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m.

Medal games

Thursday, Jan. 5 — 1:30 p.m. (bronze), 5:30 p.m. (gold)