USA Hockey announced today the 22-player roster for its 2016 U.S. National Under-17 Team, which will compete at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge from Oct. 27-Nov. 5 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The roster includes, Illinois’ Jake Pivonka of Woodridge, who is currently committed to the University of Notre Dame.

The roster includes 20 full-time members of the 2016-17 U.S. National Under-17 Team, part of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program based in Plymouth, Michigan, and two players from the Lincoln Stars and Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League, respectively.

The U.S. has played in five of the last seven title matches in this event, and has earned first place four times (2001, 2002, 2010, January 2014). Team USA had nine consecutive top-three finishes, stretching from 2006-14 (no event was held in 2007).

Notes: HockeyTV will provide live streaming coverage of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in the U.S. … The official tournament website can be found here … The semifinals, third-place game and championship contest will be broadcast live on TSN … The U.S. will skate in a pre-tournament game Thursday (Oct. 27) against Canada Red at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario … The 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge includes two groups of four teams. Group A features Canada Black, Canada White, the Czech Republic and the United States, while Group B includes Canada Red, Finland, Russia and Sweden … Follow @USAHockeyNTDP and @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for tournament updates and join the conversation on social media by using #WU17USA and #WorldU17 …Danton Cole (Pontiac, Mich.) will lead the U.S. National Under-17 Team in the event for the fourth time, having previously coached the U.S. to top-three finishes in each previous appearance. Joining Cole will be assistant coach Chris Luongo (Fraser, Mich.), goaltending coach Kevin Reiter (Pittsburgh, Pa.), intern assistant coach Mason Graddock (Stowe, Vt.) and development coach Sean Braziel (West Haven, Ct.).