July 18, 2013
Maccabiah Games | Full Schedule
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's hockey forward Jacob Friedman (West Bloomfield, Mich.) will represent the United States at the 19th Maccabiah Games, to be held July 19-26 in Metulla, Israel.
The Maccabiah Games are the third-largest international sporting event in the world and will bring together approximately 9,000 Jewish athletes from 76 countries. The Maccabiah Games, which were held for the first time in 1932, occur once every four years.
The event's four-team hockey tournament will feature squads from Canada, Israel, Ukraine and the United States. The Maccabiah Games are sponsoring hockey for the first time since it competed as an exhibition sport in 1997.
The U.S. will begin play against host-country Israel Saturday, July 20. After facing Ukraine (July 21) and Canada (July 23), medal-round play will begin July 24. The bronze-medal and gold-medal games will be held July 25-26, respectively, with all games to be played at Metulla's Canada Center - the country's lone hockey rink.
The U.S. roster is comprised of players with various levels of amateur, collegiate and professional experience. Along with Friedman, current NCAA Division I student-athletes on Team USA include Vermont's Pete Massar, Air Force's Jason Torf and Bentley's Steve Weinstein. Former Penn State club hockey player Jamie Zimmel, who played at Penn State from 2005-09, is also on the squad.
The Americans are coached by NHL Network analyst and former Michigan Wolverine Billy Jaffe, who was a member of the silver medal-winning U.S. team at the 1997 Maccabiah Games. Nashville Predators' forward Eric Nystrom will serve as assistant coach.
In 2012-13, Friedman tallied a goal and an assist in 13 games for the Nittany Lions. Penn State will open the 2013-14 campaign at the $90 million Pegula Ice Arena Oct. 11 against Army.