Whitehall's John Gibson to Compete for Olympics Hockey Spot

Still just 20 years old, Whitehall Borough's John Gibson finds himself among the 48 players invited to USA Hockey's Men's National Team Orientation Camp this August.

The camp is designed to assist in preparation for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, according to a news release.

Should he make the team's final cut, Gibson, a 6-foot-3, 212-pound goalkeeper, could end up on a roster with three Pittsburgh Penguins—defensemen Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik and forward Beau Bennett—who have also been invited to the orientation camp. In addition, the Penguins' Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma are Team USA's associate general manager and head coach, respectively, for the Sochi Games.

Gibson, a former Baldwin High School student, went 3-1 during the most recent International Ice Hockey Federation's world championship tournament, posting a sparkling goals-against average of 1.56 and a saves percentage of .951 while helping Team USA to a bronze medal.

Gibson grew up at his parents' home on Spring Valley Drive in Whitehall, about a stone's throw from St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin School, where he attended kindergarten through eighth grade. His parents still live on Spring Valley.