COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Five current or former Ivy League men’s ice hockey players were announced as members of the 25-man 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team, which will compete in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
 
With the NHL opting out of the Olympics for the first time since 1994, European professionals make up the core of the U.S. Olympic Team (15), with American minor-league professionals (3) and college hockey stars (4) rounding out the roster. Two goaltenders will be added in mid-January to complete the 25-man roster.
 
Four-of-six Ivies that competed in the 2017 Deutschland Cup from Nov. 10-12 landed spots on the 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team—Harvard’s Noah Welch and Yale’s Mark Arcobello, Broc Little and Brian O’Neill.
 
Welch, a two-time All-American defenseman at Harvard from 2001-02 to 2004-05, joins Team USA from the Växjö Lakers of the SHL. He claims 75 games of NHL experience, tallying nine points (4 G, 5 A).
 
Three former Yale All-American forwards, all of whom skated together for Bulldog head coach Keith Allain—an assistant coach for the 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team—made the final roster for PyeongChang.
 
Arcobello, who led the United States to a bronze medal at the 2015 Men’s World Ice Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic, returns to the national team from SC Bern of the National League (NLA) in Switzerland. He leads the NLA with 39 points (13 G, 26 A) in 33 games and also claims the most NHL experience among the Ivy League alums with 53 points (24 G, 29 A) in 139 NHL games. He skated for Yale from 2006-07 to 2009-10. 
 
A veteran of two Deutschland Cups, Little returns to the United States lineup from HC Davos of the NLA in Switzerland. He competed for Yale from 2007-08 to 2010-11 and currently sits third in the NLA with 31 points on the season.
 
The 2014-15 Les Cunningham Award winner as the AHL’s most valuable player, O’Neill joins the national team from Jokerit of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)—the premier professional hockey league in Europe and Asia. A Yale Bulldog from 2008-09 to 2011-12, O’Neill also claims two points (2 A) in 22 career NHL appearances.
 
Harvard junior forward Ryan Donato was the fifth and final Ivy selected for the 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. He is 1-of-4 collegians on the roster—joining Jordan Greenway of Boston University, Troy Terry of Denver and Will Borgen of St. Cloud State. Donato has recorded a point in all 12 games to start the season and leads the Crimson and the Ivy League with 20 points (12 G, 8 A). The reigning Ivy League Player of the Year is averaging 1.67 points per game to sit second in the nation. He earned a bronze medal with the United States at the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championships.
 
Donato’s 40-point sophomore campaign culminated in Harvard’s first Frozen Four appearance since 1994—when his father and current Harvard head coach Ted Donato donned the Crimson sweater. Now, he joins his father in another elite fraternity—as 1-of-28 Harvard men’s ice hockey alumni selected as a player, coach or member of team personnel for their respective national teams at the Winter Olympics.
 
This year’s U.S. side includes 15 players with NHL experience and 21 who have donned the Team USA jersey in international competition. Harvard and Yale are among 13 NCAA programs to have a current or former player selected to the 2018 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team.
 
The United States men’s national team owns 11 Olympic medals, including gold in 1960 and 1980. Team USA will meet Slovenia on Feb. 14 in its 2018 Winter Olympic opener.