The Red, White, and Blue will have a sprinkle of Orange and Black added in the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Philadelphia Flyers forward prospect Noah Cates and Lehigh Valley Phantoms goaltender Pat Nagle have been selected to the United States Men’s National Team and will represent the Stars and Stripes at the Olympics.
Cates, a fifth-round draft pick by the Flyers in 2017, is currently in his fourth season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He has registered six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 20 games for the Bulldogs and has served as team captain since last season. Cates was a freshman when the Bulldogs won their second consecutive National Championship in 2019, and he helped lead them to the 2021 Frozen Four last season as well.
Cates has participated at the international level once before at the 2019 World Junior Championships. He was one of a handful of Flyers prospects that were on Team USA, such as Jack St. Ivany, Jay O’Brien, and current Flyers forward Joel Farabee.
The younger brother of Flyers forward Jackson Cates, Noah will be one of 13 players attending for the Americans that are NHL prospects and he is one of 15 college players representing the United States too. Another player in the team’s forward group joining Cates is former Lehigh Valley Phantom Andy Miele.
Nagle, a journeyman minor-league goaltender, has spent the season between the Flyers’ AHL affiliate in the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and the Flyers’ ECHL affiliate in the Reading Royals. The 34 year-old Nagle has played in 20 total games this season between the two clubs, recording a combined 12-2-6 record, .912 save percentage, and 2.66 goals against average with one shutout while toiling away in the AHL and ECHL.
After leaving Ferris State University and signing a two-year, entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011, Nagle has spent his professional career in the top two minor leagues in North America. Before joining Lehigh Valley and Reading this year, he has suited up in the AHL for the Syracuse Crunch, Rochester Americans, Grand Rapids Griffins, and Utica Comets, and in the ECHL he has played for the Florida Everblades, Idaho Steelheads, Fort Wayne Komets, and Toledo Walleye.
Nagle will split goaltending duties in Beijing with Blackhawks prospect and Boston University standout Drew Commesso, and Strauss Mann of Skellefteå AIK in the Swedish Hockey League.
