COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) will be well represented at the upcoming 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship, as five NCHC alumni have been named to the 2023 U.S. Men’s National Team, with USA Hockey revealing the first 22 players on the roster on Thursday.
 
The five NCHC alumni hail from four teams, with Minnesota Duluth producing a pair of alums for the Stars and Stripes in defensemen Scott Perunovich and Dylan Samberg. Four of the five former NCHC players selected are blueliners with former Western Michigan standout Ronnie Attard and former St. Cloud State star Nick Perbix also on the roster, while Denver forward Carter Mazur rounds out the NCHC quintet. Of Team USA’s seven defensemen currently on the roster, four played in the NCHC. All five NCHC alums hail from either Minnesota or Michigan. To see the current U.S. roster, click here.
 
This is the first U.S. Men’s National Team call up for Attard, Mazur, Perunovich and Samberg, while Perbix was a member of the 2022 U.S. Men’s Olympic Team. Mazur, Perunovich and Samberg all represented Team USA previously in the IIHF World Junior Championships, while this is Attard’s first IIHF tournament of any kind.
 
The NCHC quintet and Team USA will play for a gold medal at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship, which runs from May 12-28 in Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia. Team USA will train in Munich starting this Saturday (May 6) and play a pre-tournament game there against Germany on May 9. The U.S. will open play in the IIHF Men’s World Championship against host Finland on May 12 in Tampere at 4:20 p.m. local time/9:20 a.m. ET. Team USA will also face Hungary, Germany, Austria, Denmark, France and Sweden in group play. The quarterfinals are set for May 25 with medal rounds on May 27-28. All U.S. games in the tournament will air live on NHL Network.
 
Attard starred at Western Michigan for three years from 2019-2022. He earned NCHC All-Rookie Team honors as a freshman, before garnering First-Team All-NCHC and First-Team All-American as a sophomore and junior. The White Lake, Mich. native was twice named NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year, including for a second time as a junior in 2021-22 when the WMU assistant captain put up 13 goals and 36 points. Attard totaled 27 goals and 72 points in 94 games during his three years at WMU. He has since played in 17 NHL games for the Philadelphia Flyers, with two goals and two assists to end the 2022 season. This year, Attard was an AHL All-Star for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, compiling 12 goals and 32 points in 68 games.
 
Mazur recently finished up a stellar two-year career at Denver, twice helping Denver win the Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champions, as well as the 2022 NCAA National Championship. The Jackson, Mich. native was the NCHC Rookie of the Year as a freshman in 2021-22, while earning Second-Team All-NCHC and Second-Team All-American this past year as a sophomore. Mazur compiled 36 goals and 75 points in 81 games as a Pioneer, including 22 goals and 37 points this year. He was one of Team USA’s top three players at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, potting five goals in five games. Mazur signed with his hometown Detroit Red Wings on March 28 and tallied six points in six games in the AHL for the Grand Rapids Griffins to close the regular season.
 
Perbix was a four-year staple on St. Cloud State’s blue line from 2018 until 2022, racking up 67 assists and 89 points in 135 career games as a Husky. The Elk River, Minn. native improved each season, landing First-Team All-NCHC honors as a senior with a career-best 31 points, after Second-Team All-Conference as a junior and NCHC All-Rookie Team accolades as a freshman in 2018-19. He helped SCSU win the Penrose Cup as a freshman, as well. Perbix represented Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics during his senior year, tallying an assist in four games in China. This season, he made his NHL debut with the Tampa Bay Lightning, playing 69 regular-season games in the NHL while recording five goals and 20 points. Perbix also dished out three assists in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
 
Perunovich patrolled UMD’s blue line for three years from 2017-2020, culminating in him winning the 2020 Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player. The Hibbing, Minn. native totaled 105 points (20g/85a) in 115 games as a Bulldog, the second-most points by a defenseman in NCHC history, en route to winning NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year all three seasons at UMD. He tallied at least 29 points all three seasons, including a career-high 11 goals as a freshman and a career-best 40 points as a junior. Perunovich was the NCHC and National (Tim Taylor Award) Rookie of the Year in 2018 and the NCHC Player of the Year in 2020. He is the only three-time First-Team All-NCHC selection in conference history and was also a three-time All-American, while winning a pair of National Championships with UMD in 2018 and 2019. In three professional seasons, Perunovich has played in 19 NHL games for the St. Louis Blues and 39 games in the AHL for the Springfield Thunderbirds (42 points), while battling through injuries.
 
Samberg was teammates with Perunovich at Minnesota Duluth all three seasons from 2017-2020, also helping the Bulldogs hoist a pair of National Championship trophies. A mostly stay-at-home defenseman, Samberg compiled 44 assists and 53 points in 109 career games at UMD, including seven goals as a sophomore in 2018-19. The Hermantown, Minn. native twice played on the U.S. National Junior Team, suiting up in 14 games over two World Junior Championships while winning a bronze in 2018 (with Perunovich) and a silver in 2019. Samberg spent the 2021-22 season splitting time between the NHL and AHL, while this season (2022-23) he played in 63 NHL games for the Winnipeg Jets, compiling eight points. He has played in 78 career NHL games, tallying two goals, both this season.
 
The five NCHC alumni on Team USA tie for the most ever on the U.S. Men’s National Team, along with the 2018 U.S. World Championship squad, which won a bronze medal. The U.S. has finished in the top four of the IIHF Men’s World Championship in six of the last nine tournaments with four bronze medals to its credit during that span (2013, 2015, 2018, 2021).
 
Additional players may be added to the current 22-man U.S. roster as the tournament nears.