USA Hockey today announced its 22-player roster the 2011 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2010-Jan. 5, 2011, in Buffalo, N.Y.

"There's a great combination of experience and talent on this roster," said Jim Johannson, general manager of the 2011 U.S. National Junior Team. "The fact that these decisions were so hard is a testament to where hockey has come in the United States."

"I'm excited with this group of guys moving forward," said Keith Allain, head coach of the 2011 U.S. National Junior Team. "We've got good speed and talent across the board, which should help us in a tournament with so many skilled teams."

Among those named to the 2011 roster are eight returning players from the gold medal-winning 2010 U.S. National Junior Team, including goaltender Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.); defenseman John Ramage (Chesterfield, Mo./Univ. of Wisconsin); and forwards Ryan Bourque (Boxford, Mass.), Jerry D'Amigo (Binghamton, N.Y.), Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass./Boston College), Jeremy Morin (Auburn, N.Y.), Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.J.) and Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev./Univ. of Denver).

Also highlighting the preliminary roster are six players from the gold medal-winning 2010 U.S. National Under-18 Team, including Campbell and Andy Iles (Ithaca, N.Y./Cornell Univ.) in goal; defensemen Justin Faulk (South St. Paul, Minn./Univ. of Minnesota Duluth), Derek Forbort (Duluth, Minn./Univ. of North Dakota) and Jon Merrill (Brighton, Mich./Univ. of Michigan); and forward Zucker.

Team USA will face Norway on Thursday (Dec. 23) at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena in Jamestown, N.Y., in its final final tune-up prior to the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. EST, and will be streamed live on FASTHockey.com.

NOTES: The U.S. will be defending its 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal, having defeated Canada, 6-5, in overtime, to claim the title last year in Saskatoon, Sask. For a full tournament schedule and ticket information, visit BuffaloWorldJuniors.com... The U.S. roster includes 16 first or second-round NHL Draft picks, including nine first-rounders ... A total of 13 states are represented on the U.S. preliminary roster, with Minnesota leading the way with five players ... For information from Team USA's pre-tournament camp thus far, click here... Since 2000, Team USA has a .642 winning percentage (42-3-5-19-5/W-OTW-OTL-L-T) in the IIHF World Junior Championship and has medaled on three occasions, including gold in both 2004 and 2010 ... Keith Allain, head men's ice hockey coach at nationally-ranked Yale University, is the head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. He will be assisted by Mark Osiecki, head men's ice hockey coach at The Ohio State University; Phil Housley, head boys' ice hockey coach at Stillwater (Minn.) high school; and Joe Exter, goaltending coach at USA Hockey's National Team Development Program ... Jim Johannson is serving as the general manager of Team USA for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, Tim Taylor, former U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team head coach and longtime Yale University men's ice hockey head coach, is also serving his second straight year as Team USA's director of player personnel.