It’s the final week of action before the National Team Development Program squads head off for a short holiday break. Both teams will face United States Hockey League competition as the U.S. National Under-17 Team plays a single home game while the U.S. National Under-18 Team will play three contests.

A SOLO STOP AT THE ICE CUBE: The U17s will host the Muskegon Lumberjacks at the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Ice Cube on Friday (Dec. 21) to close out the first half of its schedule. Face off is set for 7 p.m. EST. The Lumberjacks are second in the USHL Eastern Conference standings.

“We need to get right back on the horse and do some good work this week,” U17 coach Danton Cole said. “There are a lot of good things we are doing; we need to understand that we have to do them consistently and work really hard. You can’t sit back and just play on the end of your stick. We have to work hard without the puck. Hopefully, that lesson sinks in at some point.”

The U17s dropped two games at home against Fargo last week (Dec. 13-14), falling 4-3 in game one and 9-0 in game two. Ryan Hitchcock (Manhasset, N.Y.), Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.) and Jack Glover (Golden Valley, Minn.) scored the goals in game one. Hunter Miska (North Branch, Minn.) stopped 25 shots. In the second game, Edwin Minney (Wind Gap, Pa.) stopped 30 shots between the pipes.

“We played a good game on Thursday night, battled hard and did a lot of good things,” Cole said. “In game two, we did all the opposite things. One guy was working at a time and not all five as a unit, and you can’t play that way. That is how you end up on the wrong score against a good team. Those are hard lessons to learn.”

THREE GAMES ON THE SLATE: The U18s will play three USHL contests this week. The squad hosts the Indiana Ice on Tuesday (Dec. 18) before heading to Youngstown to face the Phantoms in a pair of games Friday and Saturday (Dec. 21-22).

“We are looking for three solid team efforts this week,” U18 coach Don Granato said. “This is our final weekend of play before we break for the holidays; however, we must look at the goal at hand: picking up points in USHL play. We need to focus on the task at hand and play to our potential.”

The U18s picked up one point last week, when they fell 5-2 at Dubuque on Friday (Dec. 14) before dropping a 3-2 shootout at Cedar Rapids on Saturday (Dec. 15).

Against Dubuque, Evan Allen (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and Anthony Louis (Winfield, Ill.) tallied the goals for Team USA. Thatcher Demko (San Diego, Calif.) finished with 23 saves.

Dawson Cook (Cadillac, Mich.) and Shane Eiserman (West Newbury, Mass.) scored the goals against Cedar Rapids. Hunter Miska kicked out 26 shots in net.

“We played shorthanded this week, going with only three forward lines,” Granato said. “The effort was definitely there on Saturday against Cedar Rapids. We need to play as a team for a full 60 minutes in order to have success.”

NTDP ALUMS FILL SPOTS ON WORLD JUNIORS PRELIMINARY ROSTER: Sixteen former NTDP players were among the 27 players named to the preliminary roster for the 2013 U.S. National Junior Team. The 27 players will attend training camp from Dec. 16-18 at the New York Rangers’ Madison Square Garden Training Center in Tarrytown, N.Y. An additional camp will follow in Helsinki, Finland. The final 23-man roster will be announced on Dec. 23.

Three invitees were members of the 2012 U.S. National Junior Team, including goaltender John Gibson (2009-11/Pittsburgh, Pa.); defenseman Jacob Trouba (2010-12/Rochester, Mich.); and forward J.T. Miller (2009-11/East Palestine, Ohio).

Other former NTDP defensemen named included Matt Grzelcyk (2010-12/Charlestown, Mass.), Seth Jones (2010-12/Plano, Texas), Jake McCabe (2009-11/Eau Claire, Wis.), Connor Murphy (2009-11/Dublin, Ohio), Patrick Sieloff (2010-12/Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Brady Skjei (2010-12/Lakeville, Minn.).

Former NTDP forwards who will be at the training camp are Riley Barber (2011-12/Livonia, Mich.), Cole Bardreau (2009-11/Fairport, N.Y.), Tyler Biggs (2009-11/Cincinnati, Ohio), Rocco Grimaldi (2009-11/Rossmoor, Calif.), Ryan Hartman (2010-12/West Dundee, Ill.), Stefan Matteau (2010-12/Chicago, Ill.) and Blake Pietila (2009-11/Brighton, Mich.).

The 2013 U.S. National Junior Team will compete at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Ufa, Russia.

NOTEBOOK
• Team USA enters this weekend with a combined 15-6-2 (W-L-OTL) record in USHL play, including a 1-10-1 mark in road contests.

• The U17s head into this week’s action with a 6-16-1 mark and have lost seven straight contests, including three by just one goal. All told, the U17s are 1-7 in one-goal games this season.

• Jack Eichel (9-11) leads the U17s in scoring with 20 points while Sonny Milano (Massapequa, N.Y./9-9) ranks second with 18 points. Chris Wilkie (Omaha, Neb./6-7) and Brandon Fortunato (North Hills, N.Y./0-13) are tied for third with 13 points. Rounding out the top six scorers are Joe Wegwerth (Brewster, N.Y./7-5), Alex Tuch (Baldwinsville, N.Y./6-6) and Jack Glover (3-9) with 12 points each.    

• In goal for the U17s, Edwin Minney has seen the majority of the action, posting a 4-10-1 record, a 4.69 goals-against average and an .863 save percentage.

• The U18s carry a 15-7-2-4 (W-L-OTL-T) mark into play this week.

• Tyler Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass./13-14) continues to pace the U18s in points with 27. Anthony Louis (14-8) and Tyler Motte (St. Clair, Mich./9-10) rank second and third with 22 and 19 points, respectively. Evan Allen (11-7) is fourth with 18 points. Sean Malone (West Seneca, N.Y./7-9) and Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wis./4-12) round out the top six with 16 points each.

• Meanwhile, in goal for the U18s, Thatcher Demko has an 11-3-0-3 (W-L-OTL-T) record along with a 2.31 GAA and a .904 save percentage. Hunter Miska is 4-4-2-1 with a 3.15 GAA and an .858 save percentage.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.