Collins, Gerbe among U.S. junior camp invites

Fourteen players from the gold medal-winning 2006 U.S. National Under-18 Team are among the group of 45 players invited to the 2006 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., August 5-14.

Participating players are candidates for the 2006 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the 2007 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2006-Jan. 5, 2007, in Mora and Leksand, Sweden.

Among the invites are six Michigan natives and a Plymouth Whalers forward.

Fourth-year Plymouth forward Dan Collins (pictured above) is one of five major junior players on the roster and the other 40 are either in college or beginning college this fall.

Goaltender Jeff Zatkoff (Chesterfield/Miami University sophomore), defensemen Kyle Lawson (New Hudson/University of Notre Dame freshman), Mark Mitera (Livonia/University of Michigan sophomore) and Chris Summers (Milan/University of Michigan freshman) and forwards Justin Abdelkader (Muskegon/Michigan State University), Jim Fraser (Port Huron/Harvard University sophomore) and Nate Gerbe, pictured left, (Oxford/Boston College sophomore) represent the state.

Sophomore Michigan defenseman Jack Johnson, who was born in Minnesota, but raised in Ann Arbor, is also a camp invite.

The camp will feature practices and eight international scrimmages with a split squad of the best American players under the age of 20 facing off against Sweden and Finland.

Collins photo courtesy Walt Dmoch/Plymouth Whalers.