Derek Forbort finished up his finals this week and, like many other students, packed his bags.
But the Duluth, Minn. native won’t be going home anytime soon. Instead, the sophomore defenseman heads off to likely spend this winter break in the same way he did last season, representing the United States in the 2012 World Juniors Championships in Edmonton and Calgary, Alta.
Pre-tournament selection camps are being held this weekend and Forbort appears to be almost certainly in the mix to not only make the final cut, but also to be a veteran leader on a team that has only a handful of returning players. On the blue line, Jon Merrill (Michigan) may be the only other player returning from last year’s bronze medalist squad.
“I think he’s going to bring a real veteran presence there,” said head coach Dave Hakstol. “He should be a real stabilizing factor for that D-core. There’s no question that he can be an outstanding, reliable two-way guy for them.”
The Americans open their preliminary round action against Denmark (Dec. 26), then square off with Finland (Dec. 28) and the Czech Republic (Dec. 30) before punctuating pool play with a New Years’ Eve clash with host Canada–all in Canada. “It should be pretty crazy up there,” Forbort said.
He’ll miss North Dakota’s exhibition matchup with the Russian Red Stars Saturday as well as UND’s non-conference series with Harvard (Dec. 30-31). Instead, he’ll join forces with players like Minnesota’s Kyle Rau and Nick Bjugstad, St Cloud State’s Kevin Gravel and Denver’s Jason Zucker and match up against the best under-20 players in the world.
For Forbort, it’s a change of pace that he enjoyed in his 2011 World Juniors campaign in Buffalo, N.Y. “Playing at that level and playing against guys of that caliber rounded out my game,” he said.
Hakstol will have to throw together a few lineups without Forbort, but he understands it’s a small price to pay for the dividends that he’s seen in past participants, such as Forbort (2011), Brock Nelson (2011) or Danny Kristo (2009 and 2010).
For the first couple of weeks, he said, “usually they come back mentally and physically tired.
“But I think in 100 percent of the cases, in the long run, a player comes back and is a better player for it. It’s a great experience for these guys to be able to go there, not only simply the experience of being there and wearing their country’s jersey but having a chance to compete at that level in that atmosphere. Those guys are going to have a great experience and they’re going to come back better players.”
Forbort and Nelson returned from last year’s tournament and brought a little extra back to the Fighting Sioux in their second half. Nelson potted two goals in his first game back with UND against Robert Morris and finished the season with 14 of his 21 points (6 goals, 8 assists) coming after the World Juniors. Forbort left for Buffalo as a plus-4 defenseman but that ballooned to plus-21 when the book was closed on the Sioux 2010-2011 season.
Forbort almost certainly will return to the red, white and blue jerseys, but beyond that, exactly what role the 2010 first round draft pick (Los Angeles, 15th overall) fulfills might not be known quite yet.
“It’s going to be whatever the coaches ask of him,” Hakstol said. “There’s no question that he can be an outstanding, reliable two-way guy for them. Beyond that, [USA head coach Dean Blais] and his staff have to put together roles for everybody that team.
“Derek can be pretty versatile for that team and I think he’ll play a large role.”
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