New Canaan native Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens.
Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty, a New Canaan native, was named to U.S. Olympic hockey team on New Year’s Day.
The announcement came on NBC Wednesday evening, after the network’s coverage of the Winter Classic, an NHL game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings held at the outdoor Michigan Stadium on New Year’s Day.
The 2014 Olympic Winter Games will be held in Sochi, Russia, in February. Joining Pacioretty on the U.S. team are fellow Connecticut natives Jonathan Quick of Milford and Kevin Shattenkirk of Greenwich, who played at Brunswick School.
In his sixth season, Pacioretty leads the Canadiens in goals with 17 this season — including two scored on New Year’s Eve against Carolina.
Despite missing nine games from an injury, Pacioretty is fifth on the team in points (29). He’s also fifth in the league with five game-winning goals.
The Canadiens are tied for second place with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division.
Pacioretty has led the Canadiens in scoring the past two seasons, even though he missed a considerable amount of time last season because of an emergency appendectomy.
He led the club with 65 points on 33 goals and 32 assists during the 2011-12 season and was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2012.
Pacioretty earned the award after a brilliant campaign, during which he became the first American-born player to score 30 or more goals in a season with Montreal.
The Masterton Trophy, named in honor of a Minnesota North Stars player who died in 1968 of injuries suffered during an NHL game, is given annually to the NHL player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.”
During the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season, Pacioretty led the Canadiens with 39 points on 15 goals and 24 assits.
Pacioretty played for New Canaan High School during freshman and sophomore years before transferring to the Taft School in Watertown. He then played for the University of Michigan before leaving early for the 2007 NHL Draft.
Just before Christmas, he became a father. Patcioretty and his wife, Katia, welcomed their first child, a son, Lorenzo.