Cedar Rapids RoughRiders goaltender Brady Hjelle has been named to the United States Junior Select Team that will compete at the 2007 World Junior A Challenge November 5-11 in Trail and Nelson, British Columbia.

Hjelle, 17, has gotten his junior career off to a superb start, playing every second of the RoughRiders’ first five games. The International Falls, Minnesota, native leads the United States Hockey League in wins (4), save percentage (.934), shutouts (1) and minutes played (300) and ranks second in goals against average (2.2).

Already this season Hjelle has twice been named USHL Goaltender of the Week. At one point he went 122:31 over parts of three games without giving up a goal- the longest shutout streak in the league this season.

Hjelle, who played for International Falls High School last season, was selected by the Riders in the ninth round of the 2006 USHL Futures Draft with the one hundredth choice. He will play college hockey at Minnesota-Duluth.

This is the second time in a matter of months that Hjelle has been chosen to represent his country. He also played on the U.S. Under-18 Select Team that finished fifth in August’s Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in Piestany, Slovakia and Hodonin, Czech Republic. This is the second edition of the World Junior A Challenge and the first time the U.S. will take part in the tournament. Team USA will battle Belarus, Germany, Russia and two teams from Canada (East and West).

The RoughRiders (4-1-0, 8 points) are in first place in the USHL’s East Division heading into a home-and-home series with the Lincoln Stars this weekend. The Riders will visit Lincoln Friday night before returning home to take on the Stars Saturday evening at 7:05.

Tickets for all remaining RoughRider regular season home games- including Saturday’s- are now on sale. Tickets are available for purchase in person at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena ticket office, over the phone at (319) 261-4625 or on line at www.roughridershockey.com. The ticket office is open from noon to 5:00PM on weekdays and from noon through the end of the second period on game days. Ticket prices range from $7 to $17 in advance and from $8 to $18 on game days.