DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) – Hermantown native, former UMD Bulldog, and current Winnipeg Jet Neal Pionk has been named to the U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Orientation Camp Roster.
The Blueliner is one of 44 players to get the invitation to a two-day camp that runs Aug. 26 and 27 in Plymouth, Michigan.
A roster spot at this camp means Pionk is a potential player to make the 2026 U.S. Winter Olympic Roster in Milan, Italy.
Pionk will skate in his ninth NHL season, his sixth with the Jets, and is coming off a stellar year.
He skated in all 82 games over his Bulldog tenure, and had 11 goals and 40 assists for 51 points and a plus-35 rating to show for it. A two-time NCHC All-Academic Team pick, he was the recipient of the Jerry Chumola Award (UMD’s Rookie of the Year) following his debut season.
The Jets acquired Pionk and a first-round pick in a 2019 trade, and just this April, he signed a six-year extension with Winnipeg after recording 10 goals and 29 assists in 69 games with the Presidents’ Trophy-winning squad this season, averaging 22:04 of ice time per contest.
This year, he put up 39 points and made a run into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Following this, he inked a six-year $42 million extension.
The final 25-man roster is set to be announced in January.
The last Bulldog to make an Olympic roster was Noah Cates in 2022.
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