Justin Faulk Named to Preliminary Team USA World Junior Roster

It's not a surprise. In fact, it will be a bigger surprise if he doesn't make the final roster.

But it's still newsworthy.

UMD freshman defenseman Justin Faulk was named to the preliminary roster for the United States in the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championships in Buffalo.

Here is the information from UMD:

Justin Faulk, who has racked up more goals than any other rookie defenseman in the country this season, will soon get the chance to strut his stuff on a different stage as the University of Minnesota Duluth product has made the 29-man preliminary roster for the U.S. National Junior Team, which was announced today.

Faulk, a 5-11, 200-pound native of South St. Paul, Minn. , will take part in the team's pre-tournament camp beginning on Dec. 17 in Troy, N.Y. The camp includes three exhibition games against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Dec. 19), the Czech Republic (Dec. 21) and Norway (Dec. 23). The final 22-man U.S. roster that will compete at the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship will be announced Dec. 22 or 23 prior to Team USA’s final exhibition game against Norway.

In 16 games this season with the No. 2-ranked and Western Collegiate Hockey Association-leading Bulldogs, Faulk has collected five goals and seven assists for 12 points (a figure surpassed by only one other NCAA freshman blueliner) and is a team-high plus-13 on the year. Four of his five goals have come on the power play, including one which put UMD in the lead for good in last Saturday's 2-1 win over the University of Denver.

Faulk will be looking to become the 12th Bulldog to skate for the U.S. National Junior Team and the first since defenseman Matt Niskanen, now a member of the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars, did so in 2006.