ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell men's hockey equipment manager Sean Schmidt will miss at least the Big Red's next two games against AIC on Dec. 29 and 30, but for a good cause.
Schmidt will be one of two equipment managers for Team USA at the upcoming 2023 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. The tournament will run from Dec. 26 – Jan. 5 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick.
This year's World Junior Championship marks Schmidt's first with Team USA. He also has served as Team USA's equipment manager for the 2019 U.S. Under-17 Select Team at the Five Nations Tournament in Füssen, Germany. Schmidt also has worked the 2018 Boys Select Under-15 and 2017 Boys Select Under-17 development camps.
"Dana McGuane [RPI's equipment manager] got my foot in the door for those camps, and he was a big advocate for me to work this year," Schmidt said before leaving for Plymouth, Mich., where Team USA is currently holding camp for the tournament. "I was lucky enough to have my name called this year.
"It's been something I've wanted to do. It's a bucket-list tournament, and anytime you get to work with USA Hockey is a great honor. I called Coach Schafer right away to see if it would work out, and big thanks to him and Cornell for letting me step away for a few weeks to work this tournament."
Nine collegiate coaches and support staff will be a part of Team USA at this year's tournament, five of which are currently employed at ECAC Hockey institutions.
Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold will serve as Team USA's head coach for the first time. Dartmouth bench boss Reid Cashman and Western Michigan head coach Pat Ferschweiler will serve as assistant coaches.
Schmidt, Shawn Roche (Quinnipiac – video coach), Will Morlock (Michigan State – athletic trainer), Jessica Thibault (Sacred Heart – team services), Kevin Ricks (Notre Dame – athletic trainer), and Rob Kennedy (Quinnipiac – equipment manager) are the other collegiate-based support staff members.
Team USA is looking to rebound from its fifth-place finish in last year's tournament, which was held this past August in Edmonton, Alberta. The original tournament was canceled due to multiple COVID-19 outbreaks among participating teams.
This past August, Team USA did not advance past the quarterfinal round after No. 4-seeded Czechia posted a 4-2 upset victory.
The 2023 World Junior Championships begins this Monday, Dec. 26, when Team USA opens the tournament against Latvia at 4 p.m. ET. All four of Team USA's round-robin matchups will be played at 4 p.m. at the Avenir Center in Moncton. Every game can be viewed live on the NHL Network and streamed on fuboTV.
Team USA, who is playing in Group B of the tournament, will also play Slovakia (Dec. 28), Switzerland (Dec. 29), and Finland (Dec. 31) in its group.
