FARGO FORCE:  Both the U.S. National Under-18 and Under-17 Teams will get a turn apiece to host the USHL-leading Fargo Force this weekend at USA Hockey Arena.

The Force are the class of the league, having yet to lose a game in regulation and currently owning a 13-0-1-0 record, collecting 96.4% of possible standings points.

The Force are led by forward Zam Plante, older brother of NTDP forward Max Plante (Hermantown, Minn.), who has racked up a team-high nine goals and 20 points through 14 games played. Running with him is Mac Swanson, the second-year USHLer has posted 13 assists to lead the team and sits second with 17 overall points.

From the blue line, Leo Gruba leads the USHL in scoring by a defensemen as he averages 1.07 points-per-game, including five goals and 10 assists. Tate Taylor's 0.71 PPG puts him t-10th among all blueliners in the league.

In net, it's been an elite-level split between a pair of Minnesota natives in Anton Castro and Hampton Slukynsky, who are the first and second ranked goaltenders in the league, respectively. Castro has a 7-0-1 record in eight appearances, with a 1.75 GAA and .916 save percentage, both of which top the USHL. Slukynsky's 1.94 GAA and .904 SV% both rank second among all qualified goaltenders. Sluskynsky was a member of the gold-medal winning 2023 U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team last April that competed in Basel, Switzerland.

The single-game matchups between each NTDP team and the Force will be the lone games played between Team USA and Fargo this season.