UND Star Hockey Player Expected To Play For USA At Olympics

The University of North Dakota's Jake Sanderson is expected to play for Team USA in February and join another group of college players reminiscent of 1980.  The United States will go for the "Gold" at the Olympics in Beijing, China.

According to an article in the Grand Forks Herald, Sanderson is expected to accept the offer to play for the United States.  This comes after the NHL decided not to send its players to the Olympics over fears of extended time that could keep players in China if COVID-19 were to take hold of the Olympics.  This could be a concern for college players as well.

Sanderson is not expected to miss any January games for the Fighting Hawks, however, he will for sure miss the weekend series on February 4th and 5th in Grand Forks against Colorado College.  After that, it depends on how Team USA does at the Olympic games.

Jake Sanderson is one of the few college hockey players who was born in Montana.  Whitefish, Montana to be exact.  He is an elite defenseman and was drafted in the first round by the Ottawa Senators in the 2020 National Hockey League draft.  He was the 5th player selected overall in that draft, which is highly impressive.

The road to gold for the United States Olympic team will begin on February 10th.  They will play pool play games on February 12th and 13th.  Qualification playoffs are set to begin on February 15th, the quarterfinals on February 16th.  The bronze game will take place on February 18th and the gold medal game will take place on February 20th.

Team USA is expected to be made up of mostly college players with a few AHL (The NHL's top minor league) players too.  Hoping for a repeat of the Miracle Ice and 1980.