Goalie Anthony Stolarz, a Flyers second-round pick in 2012, is in good position to prepare his passport for a trip to Sweden in December.
The native of Jackson, N.J. is among 31 players left on the roster after the final cuts at USA Hockey's National Junior Evaluation Camp Tuesday. He will vie for a spot on the final roster before the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Malmo, Sweden from Dec. 26, 2013 — Jan. 5, 2014. The other two goalies auditioning are 2014 draft eligible Thatcher Demko and Jon Gillies who was on this year's gold-medal squad, although he only played 20 minutes.
"We want to put a couple goaltenders in position and see how they react here," general manager of the 2014 U.S. National Junior Team Jim Johannson told NHL.com. "Jon Gillies, fantastic here last year, was a big part of our team last year. Not playing minutes-wise, but he was around the room and was a good teammate and was a guy that was prepared to play. I think in Stolarz you're still seeing a raw, athletic guy that everyone is intrigued by. It's a matter of putting him in more international competition to see if the consistency is there. Thatcher had a great year for us last year [with the United States National Team Development Program], and this is the next step for him, so we want to see what he does with the next step."
Wednesday, Team USA will face Sweden. Thursday they'll play Finland and will face off against Canada on Saturday. All games are being played at the Olympic Center's 1980 Herb Brooks Arena.
Another New Jersey native to make the cut is defenseman Connor Clifton from Matawan in Monmouth County. The Phoenix Coyotes' fifth-round pick in June's draft played for the U.S. Under-18 team last year, which won a silver medal. He had one goal and two penalty minutes in seven games.
