By WJBC Staff
BLOOMINGTON – For the third straight season, the Bloomington Thunder will see their prospects compete on the international stage with Team USA.
The Thunder have the most prospects of any USHL team to be competing with Team USA in the tournament. Calen Kiefiuk, Brady Smith and Jeremy Davidson were each chosen for the tournament following their performance at the Team USA Boys Select 16 Development Camp. Only four other USHL teams had multiple players selected to compete.
The Five Nations tournament comes to the states this summer for the first time since 2011 and will be played in Dallas. The tournament will run from August 9-13 at the Dr. Pepper StarCenter Arena.
As the first tender in Bloomington Thunder history, Kiefiuk will be with the Thunder in the fall to compete in the 2016-17 season. The Michigan commit comes to the Thunder from the HoneyBaked hockey program in the HPHL. Not only was Kiefiuk the leading scorer for Honeybaked, but also was third in the nation in scoring.
Two other Phase I picks by the Thunder also made it through to the Five Nations selection. Davidson was one of the tournament leaders in points, totaling three goals and six assists in just five games. A native of Schoolcraft, MI Davidson played a pair of seasons with the HoneyBaked program before heading out of his home state to Shattuck St. Mary’s prep school. In 51 games with the program, Davidson produced 17 goals and 28 assists for 45 points.
Smith is a native of Bloomington, but has spent time with the Chicago mission over the past three seasons. Already committed to the University of Wisconsin, the defenseman rounds out the group of Thunder prospects selected to the tournament. After totaling four points from the blue line, he earned a spot in the All-Star Game and eventually a roster spot.
In the Thunder’s first two seasons both Mitchell Mattson and Ben Mirageas competed with Team USA at the Five Nations tournament bringing home Gold in 2015 and Silver in 2014.
