Dec. 8, 2014
Finland Names U-20 World Championship Camp
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Finnish men's national hockey program named Penn State freshman defenseman Erik Autio (Espoo, Finland) as one of its 29 members ahead of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship. Autio will report to team camp in Canada before final cuts are made.
Autio, who has played in all but one game this season, is one of two NCAA players (Mike Ilvonen, St. Cloud State) that will participate in the preliminary camp. Autio has four assists this season including a helper on the game-winning goal in Saturday's 4-2 win over Wisconsin that secured Penn State's first Big Ten sweep. The freshman had a plus-three rating for the weekend.
Earlier this season, Autio tallied assists in three straight games against Holy Cross (Oct. 26) and Bentley (Oct. 30-31). Autio has 15 blocks and give games with positive ratings and 30 shots attempted.
Autio took part in the 2013 IIHF U-18 World Championship for Finland, gathering an assist and a team-best plus-six rating. Finland took bronze in the tournament.
Finland, who won the 2014 title for players under 20 years of age, is in Group A with the United States, Canada, Germany and Slovakia. The first group stage game is set for Dec. 26 against the Americans in Montreal before taking on Slovakia on Dec. 27. On the 29th, Finland plays the host, Canada, before closing group play against Germany on New Year's Eve.
The tournament will advance to a medal round competition that culminates with the gold-medal game on Jan. 5. If Autio is named to the final 23-man roster, he would miss the Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburgh (Dec. 29-30).