COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Minnesota Duluth junior forward Zam Plante is set to make his return to the U.S. Collegiate Selects team, as he was one of five players added to the 2026 USCS roster on Thursday. Plante is the only player from the inaugural 2025 team among the 11 already named to the 2026 USCS roster.
 
Plante becomes the third Bulldog selected to the 2026 U.S. Collegiate Selects squad, as he joins his brother and fellow junior forward Max Plante and junior defenseman Ty Hanson. Max Plante and Hanson were named to the USCS team on Oct. 1. In addition, UMD head coach Scott Sandelin will serve as an assistant coach for the Collegiate Selects at the 2026 Spengler Cup.
 
Zam Plante (Hermantown, Minn.) returns to the U.S. Collegiate Selects after tallying two assists in four games at the 2025 Spengler Cup when the USCS finished as runner-up. The Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick was a Third-Team All-NCHC honoree as a sophomore when he finished fifth in the NCAA and second in the NCHC with 51 points, while his 31 assists were seventh nationally a season ago. This year, Plante was tabbed to the Preseason All-NCHC Team and has two goals and an assist in four games so far.
 
Minnesota Duluth is the only NCAA team with three players on the USCS roster so far, and the Bulldogs are the only three National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) players on the squad to date. Michigan and Minnesota each have two players among the 11 named to the 2026 USCS team. The USCS roster will feature 25 student-athletes in total from all six NCAA Division I men’s hockey conferences, with additional players announced in the coming weeks.
 
The 2026 Spengler Cup runs from Dec. 26-Dec. 31 in Davos, Switzerland. The U.S. Collegiate Selects open play at the 2026 Spengler Cup on Saturday, Dec. 26 against Frölunda HC of Sweden before facing host HC Davos on either Dec. 27 or Dec. 28.
 
Last year, the NCHC had five players on the inaugural U.S. Collegiate Selects team that finished as a runner-up at the 2025 Spengler Cup, including Zam Plante. The other four NCHC players on the 2025 USCS team (Adam Gajan, Jake Livanavage, Eric Pohlkamp and Abram Wiebe) all signed NHL contracts after the 2025-26 season.
 
The Spengler Cup is the oldest invitational hockey tournament in the world, with the first edition held in 1923. The annual competition is held each December between Christmas and New Year’s in Davos, Switzerland and features six teams from Europe and North America competing at the Eisstadion Davos.
 
Visit CollegeHockeyInc.com for more information on the U.S. Collegiate Selects and the Spengler Cup.
 
Five Additions to 2026 U.S. Collegiate Selects Roster

• Elliott Groenewold, D, Quinnipiac
• Michael Hage, F, Michigan
• Jayden Perron, F, Michigan
• Zam Plante, F, Minnesota Duluth
• Brodie Ziemer, F, Minnesota