Ferlin Named to Preliminary U.S. World Junior Hockey Squad

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell freshman forward Brian Ferlin has been named to the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team preliminary roster, which was announced Monday evening by USA Hockey on NHL Network's broadcast of Cisco NHL Live.
 
Ferlin is one of 29 players invited to the team's pre-tournament camp, which is scheduled for Dec. 17-23 in Camrose, Alberta. The final roster of 22 for the IIHF World Junior Championship is expected to be announced Dec. 22 on the eve of the squad's final tune-up game.
 
Cornell sophomore goalie Andy Iles has also been tabbed as the United States' emergency goalie for the tournament after serving as a member of the bronze medal-winning squad in 2011. He will not attend either the camp or the tournament unless an injury is suffered by Jack Campbell or John Gibson.
 
Ferlin and Iles both had strong performances in USA Hockey's National Junior Evaluation Camp in August, then delivered standout performances for the Big Red in the early portion of the 2011-12 season. Cornell, which moved up to 16th in the USCHO.com poll Monday, stands in first place in ECAC Hockey with a 7-3-1 overall record and 6-1-1 mark in league play.
 
The 6-foot-2, 201-pound Ferlin is the first Jacksonville, Fla. native to ever be selected in the NHL Entry Draft, having been scooped up by the Boston Bruins in the fourth round of June's draft. He was named the November Rookie of the Month for both ECAC Hockey and the Hockey Commissioners Association after leading the nation in rookie scoring with an average of 1.22 points per game through November.
 
Ferlin had five goals and six assists for 11 points, all during a seven-game point streak that included a five-game Cornell winning streak. He was named ECAC Hockey's Rookie of the Week consecutively on Nov. 8 and Nov. 15, currently sitting in second place in league scoring with five goals and six assists for 11 points through eight games.
 
Iles has been lights-out over the past several weeks with five shutouts over the Big Red's last six games. He is the first Cornell goalie with five shutouts in the first 11 games of a season since Ken Dryden in 1967-68. All five of Iles' shutouts have come on home ice, giving him an active scoreless streak of 310 minutes, 58 seconds at Lynah Rink.
 
While Ferlin heads to Alberta with Iles on standby, the Big Red is idle until a pair of games Dec. 29-30 at the Florida College Classic. Cornell opens with a 7 p.m. game against Massachusetts on the first day, then the Big Red will play either Clarkson or Maine the following day.