The 25-year-old Parise will be counted on for offense. He is coming off a season in which he had 45 goals and 94 points. So far this season, Parise has 17 goals and 25 assists.

He will be joined up front by St. Louis’ David Backes, Drury’s Rangers teammate Ryan Callahan, Ryan Kesler of Vancouver, Toronto’s Phil Kessel, Tampa Bay forward Ryan Malone, San Jose’s Joe Pavelski, Bobby Ryan of Anaheim, and Colorado’s Paul Stastny.

The remaining defensemen are Erik Johnson of St. Louis, Toronto’s Mike Komisarek, Brooks Orpik of Pittsburgh, and Nashville’s Ryan Suter.

Suter’s father, Bob, was a defenseman on the 1980 U.S. “Miracle on Ice” team that won gold at Lake Placid. His uncle, Gary Suter, played on the 2002 squad at Salt Lake City.

“It means a ton with the family tradition. I don’t think it has sunk in yet,” Ryan Suter said. “I will be able to sit at the same table with those guys if I bring some hardware home.”

The United States hasn’t captured the gold since 1980, and has only a 2002 silver medal since NHL players started going to the Olympics for the 1998 Nagano Games. The Americans finished eighth in Turin.

The team will be led by Toronto coach Ron Wilson. His assistants are Rangers coach John Tortorella and the Islanders’ Scott Gordon.

Burke was joined by fellow NHL GMs David Poile (Nashville), Paul Holmgren (Philadelphia), Don Waddell (Atlanta), Dean Lombardi (Los Angeles), Ray Shero (Pittsburgh), along with Jim Johannson, the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey, in choosing the roster.

“We had some difficult decisions to make, but that’s a credit to USA Hockey and depth of the player pool in our country,” Burke said.

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