David Booth (ice Hockey) - International Play

International Play

During his tenure with the United States National Team Development Program, Booth competed at the 2002 IIHF World U18 Championship, held in Trnava and Piestany, Slovakia. Playing Russia in the last game of the final round, Booth scored the United States' first two goals of the game. A win against Russia placed the United States in a tie for the gold medal with four wins and one tie each. In order to beat Russia on the goal-differential tiebreaker, they needed to win the contest by two goals. Leading 2–1 with a minute remaining, the United States pulled their goalie and Zach Parise scored with thirty seconds left to capture the gold medal. Booth was named MVP of the gold medal game. Booth finished the tournament with two goals and two assists over eight games.

Two years later (now a member of the Michigan State Spartans), he moved on to the under-20 level, competing at the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championships, held in Helsinki and Hameenlinna, Finland. He recorded his lone assist of the tournament on Dan Fritsche's game-winning goal in the semifinal against Finland. Booth and the United States went on to win the gold medal with a 4–3 win over Canada in the final. With a goal and an assist over six games, Booth tied for 12th in team point-scoring. In a 2011 interview for Canucks.com, Booth recalled his IIHF U18 and U20 gold medals as his first- and second-best hockey memories, respectively.

Following Booth's second season in the NHL with the Panthers, he was named to his first United States men's team for the 2008 IIHF World Championships, held in Halifax and Quebec City, Canada. He scored his lone goal of the tournament (also his first international goal and point at the men's level) in a 5–1 preliminary round win against Slovakia. In the quarterfinals, the United States lost 3–2 to Finland and finished the tournament in sixth place.

The following year, he was invited to the national team's summer orientation camp in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Booth later recalled that making the Olympic team was his goal at the start of the 2009–10 NHL season. During the first month of NHL play, however, Booth suffered a concussion and was sidelined long-term. When the final Olympic roster was announced on January 1, 2010, Booth was still recovering from the injury and he was not selected.