The 2009 World Hockey Championships will be taking place this year in the host country of Switzerland in the summer of 2009 in the cities of Berne and Zurich. This year’s United States World Hockey Championships roster is composed of a very young but talented group of players, with a very young average age.

The 2009 United States World Hockey Championship roster was picked by USA Hockey and will be coached by Ron Wilson of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The US World Championships roster doesn’t have any superstars, but rather a young fast team with a little more leadership than last years United States World Hockey Championship roster. The World Hockey Championships begin on April 25th and the US team will be adding more players to the roster before the tournament begins. Also, take a look at the 2009 Team Canada World Hockey Championship roster.

United States (US) 2009 World Hockey Championships Roster

US Goaltender
Robert Esche
Al Montoya

US Defense
Keith Ballard
Zach Bogosian
Ron Hainsey
Jack Johnson
Matt Niskanen
Ryan Suter

US Forwards
Dustin Brown
Patrick O’Sullivan
Drew Stafford
Lee Stempniak
Jason Blake
Nick Foligno
Peter Harrold
Kyle Okposo
Ryan Shannon
Colin Stuart
Colin Wilson

US Coach
Ron Wilson

Jagr reportedly received a number of offers from NHL teams, including the biggest offer which came from Edmonton.  In the end, Jagr thanked the Rangers and all the teams that bid on his services, and packed his stuff to go play in Russia.  You never know, Jagr may be back in the NHL, but I have a feeling his playing days in the NHL are over.  I see him playing these 2 years in Russia before finishing his career in his native Czech Republic.

Overall, the US was one of the strongest teams but a lack of goaltending and a subpar defensive unit contributed to their demise.  On a bright note for the US, was that this was a very young team with far less big stars than teams like Russia and Canada.  The US lost to Canada 5-4 on a late goal and lost twice to Finland 3-2.

Russia will play Finland and Canada will play Sweden in the semi-finals in the World Hockey Championships.

Today’s game saw the United States jump out to an early lead and they never looking back as they crushed Norway 9-1.  Brandon Dubinsky scored 3 goals for the hat trick and Dustin Brown added 2 goals and an assist.  Team USA scored 3 goals in each period and outshot the Norwegians by a wide margin.

In the 1st period, Dubinsky scored 1st, Brown followed and Patrick Kane finished off the scoring in the 1st period to give Team USA a 3-0 lead.  In the 2nd period, Dubinsky scored his 2nd goal of the game to lead off the period.  Trygg from Norway made the score 4-1 on a point shot that beat Robert Esche.  Paul Martin and Zack Parise rounded out the scoring in the 2nd period.

The third period saw the U.S. extend their lead with goals from Brown, Dubinsky and Phil Kessel.   Once Team Canada and Finland are finished playing tonight, then Team USA will know their opponent for the Quarterfinals.