EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Michigan State will have two players and one staff member representing Team USA at the upcoming IIHF World Championships, which will be played May 10-26 in Czechia.
Current goaltender Trey Augustine (South Lyon, Mich.) will be one of the team’s two netminders, defenseman Jeff Petry (Farmington, Mich.) will make his fourth appearance at the World Championships, and Spartan performance coach Will Morlock will serve as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for Team USA. Augustine, who just completed his freshman season for the Spartans, is a product of the US National Team Development Program and has extensive experience playing on the international stage.
In the last calendar year alone, Augustine backstopped the Men’s U20 team to a gold medal at the World Junior Championships back in January and the U18 squad to gold at the world championships last May. This is his first time playing at the senior men’s world Championship. A 2023 second-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings, Augustine completed one of the finest first-year campaigns in program history. A Second Team All-Big Ten selection, Augustine was a finalist for the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year as well as the Mike Richter Award as the nation’s top goaltender. A member of the Big Ten All-Freshman team, he backstopped MSU to its most victories since 2007-08, its first-ever Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles, and into an NCAA regional final.
He led the nation with 1113 saves on the season, Petry, who just completed his 14th NHL season and currently is a member of the Detroit Red Wings, is playing in the World Championships for the fourth time, previously wearing the Red, White and Blue in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He skated for MSU from 2007-10, captaining the team as a junior in 2009-10 and compiling a 9-58–67 scoring line over three seasons.
Selected as the 45th overall pick by Edmonton in the 2006 NHL draft, he made his NHL debut with the Oilers during the 2010-11 season and has since skated in 937 NHL games with Edmonton, Montreal, Pittsburgh, and spent the last season in Detroit, where he played in 73 games (3-21-24). Morlock just completed his second season with the Spartans, and previously worked at GVN Performance, where he worked extensively with the US National Team Development Program. Morlock was a part of the Team USA staff at the 2023 World Junior Championships (where Augustine was also a member of the team) and captured a bronze medal.
Team USA will be in Group B and will play its preliminary round games in Ostrava; Nations in group B include France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden. The squad opens play on Friday, May 10 against Sweden; the complete schedule can be found at www.iihf.com
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