Local Sports Journal

The Muskegon Lumberjacks are proud to announce that defenseman Joe Cecconi has been selected to participate for the United States Under-18 Select Team at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup following the recent conclusion of USA Hockey’s Select 17 Player Development Camp held June 27th-July 2nd at the Northtown Center at Amherst in Williamsville, New York.  The annual tournament takes place from August 11-16th in Břeclav, Czech Republic and Piešt’any, Slovakia.

Cecconi, the Youngstown, New York native, played in 28 games this past season with the Lumberjacks, his first in the USHL, after being picked up in a trade with the Green Bay Gamblers in late December and collected two goals and four assists to go along with a plus-one rating.  Following his junior career, Cecconi has a commitment to play collegiately for the University of Michigan Wolverines out of the Big Ten Conference.

“It’s an honor, and I’m extremely proud to represent the United States in such a prestigious tournament,” said Cecconi.  “I am looking forward to heading overseas and competing to try and help my team capture a gold medal in any way possible.  It’s always a great feeling when you get the opportunity to don your country’s logo and colors on the uniform.”

This year’s Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup tournament features eight countries divided into two groups of four teams with each playing three round robin games prior to the beginning of the medal round and positional playoff games.  The United States will play in Group A alongside the Czech Republic, Finland, and Russia with all round robin games to happen in Břeclav.  Group B consists of Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and six-time defending champion Canada with all round robin games to occur in Piešt’any.

Below is the complete schedule for the U.S. Under-18 Select Team’s exhibition and round robin portion (all times are in Eastern Standard Time):

Saturday, August 9th – Slovakia (exhibition) at 11:30 am
Monday, August 11th – Czech Republic at 1:00 pm
Tuesday, August 12th – Russia at 9:30 am
Wednesday, August 13th – Finland at 9:30 am