Both the U.S. National Under-17 and Under-18 Teams head out on the road this weekend. The U17s return to United States Hockey League competition while the U18s continue college play.

OFF TO IOWA: Fresh off finishing third at the 2013 World Under-17 Challenge last Friday (Jan. 4), the U17s head to Waterloo on Friday (Jan. 11) and Des Moines on Saturday (Jan. 12) for a pair of USHL contests.

“This is always a difficult weekend, whenever you are coming off an international tournament,” U17 coach Danton Cole said. “We played seven games in eight days [including the exhibition], so we need to find ways to keep our players fresh.”

Team USA beat Canada's Team Quebec 4-3 on Friday (Jan. 4) in the third-place game at the 2013 World Under-17 Challenge. Austin Poganski (St. Cloud, Minn.) registered a hat trick and Ryan MacInnis (St. Louis, Mo.) added a single score to propel Team USA. Chris Birdsall (Glen Rock, N.J.) finished with 26 stops between the pipes.

“We did a good job of working and battling [against Team Quebec],” Cole said. “It was good to see how the guys would respond after the game against Russia. They showed a lot of pride and character in the win.”

In the preliminary round, the U17s went undefeated (3-1-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) for the fourth time in the last five years at the tournament. The squad opened with a 6-5 shootout win over Canada's Team Ontario on Dec. 29 as Sonny Milano (Massapequa, N.Y.) scored the lone goal in the shootout. Six different players scored goals and Edwin Minney (Wind Gap, Pa.) stopped 20 shots as the U17s bested Canada's Team Atlantic 6-3 in game two on Dec. 30.

Chris Wilkie (Omaha, Neb.) finished with a goal and two assists to help the Under-17 Team to a 5-1 win over Quebec on Dec. 31, helping the squad clinch a semifinal berth. Milano had a pair of goals while Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.), Alex Tuch (Baldwinsville, N.Y.), MacInnis, Ryan Hitchcock (Manhasset, N.Y.) and Ryan Collins (Bloomington, Minn.) had the other goals for the U.S. in a 7-2 win over Slovakia in the final game of preliminary action on Jan. 2.

In the semifinals, Russia posted a 6-4 win on Jan. 3 to send Team USA to the third-place game. Wilkie tallied a pair of goals while Poganski and Jack Glover (Golden Valley, Minn.) had single tallies to pace the offense.

COLLEGE PLAY FOR U18 SQUAD: One week after winning at the University of Michigan for the first time in National Team Development Program history, the U18 squad goes back on the road to face Penn State University on Friday (Jan. 11) and Saturday (Jan. 12). The Nittany Lions are 8-11-2 (W-L-T) as they make the transition to NCAA Division I play.

“This is another good road test for our squad,” U18 coach Don Granato said. “We need to continue to play a full 60 minutes, and when we do, we have success on the ice. It’s important for us to continue to play our game.”

On Friday (Jan. 4), Tyler Motte (St. Clair, Mich.) registered a pair of power-play goals in the 5-3 win at Michigan. Sean Malone (West Seneca, N.Y.), John Hayden (Greenwich, Conn.) and Trevor Hamilton (Grosse Pte. Farms, Mich.) also posted goals. Thatcher Demko (San Diego, Calif.) stopped 19 shots.

The U18s rounded out the weekend with a 7-2 win over the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Saturday (Jan. 5). Tyler Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wis.) each tallied a pair of first-period goals. Motte, Malone and Evan Allen (Sterling Heights, Mich.) also scored while Hunter Miska (North Branch, Minn.) earned the win in net, kicking out 13 shots.

“We had a good weekend, picking up two college victories,” Granato said. “We had an emotional win over Michigan, which was the first ever for Team USA. On Saturday, I was proud of our team’s effort to come out, play hard and earn a victory after the win over Michigan the night before.”

NTDP AT WORLD JUNIORS: The NTDP was well represented at the World Junior Championships, where Team USA defeated Sweden 3-1 on Saturday (Jan. 5) to win the gold medal.

Jake McCabe (Eau Claire, Wis./2009-11) served as captain of the 2013 World Junior Team. Joining McCabe as alternate captains were Cole Bardreau (Fairport, N.Y./2009-11), Seth Jones (Plano, Texas/2010-12), J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio/2009-11) and Jacob Trouba (Rochester, Mich./2010-12).

Other NTPD players on the U.S. squad included goaltender John Gibson (Pittsburgh, Pa./2009-11), defensemen Connor Murphy (Dublin, Ohio/2009-11) and Patrick Sieloff (Ann Arbor, Mich./2010-12/), and forwards Riley Barber (Livonia, Mich./2011-12), Ryan Hartman (West Dundee, Ill./2010-12) and Blake Pietila (Brighton, Mich./2009-11).

Gibson became the sixth U.S. goaltender to be named the best goaltender of the tournament. He joins three former NTDP goalies who have also won that distinction: Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich./2009-10) in 2011; Al Montoya (Glenview, Ill./2001-02) in 2004 and Rick DiPietro (Winthrop, Mass./1997-99) in 2000.

Trouba was the third U.S. blueliner to earn the award as top defenseman. Former NTDP player Erik Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./2004-06) earned the honor in 2007.

After the victory over Sweden on Saturday, Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif./2010-11), Tyler Biggs (Cincinnati, Ohio/2009-11), Jones and Trouba joined Jack Campbell and Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev./2009-10) as only American men with three International Ice Hockey Federation gold medals. The players each earned two gold medals at the World U-18 Championship and one at the World Junior Championship. Campbell and Zucker won the gold medal with Team USA at the 2010 World Juniors.

NOTEBOOK
• The U17s have reached the semifinals at the last seven World Under-17 Challenges, dating back to the 2006 tournament. During this span, the squad has claimed first place once, second four times and third twice.

• Sonny Milano was selected to the 2013 World Under-17 Challenge all-star team. He recorded 10 points (4-6) in six games to finish in a four-way tie for second in points at the tournament.

• Milano led the U17s in points at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge with 10 (4-6) in six games. Chris Wilkie (3-6) was second with nine points while Dylan Larkin (2-5) was third with seven points. Austin Poganski (6-0) and Ryan Hitchcock (2-4) rounded out the top five with six points each.

• U17 forward Nolan Stevens (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) played his first game of the season, suiting up with the U18s on Saturday against MSOE.

• Team USA has a combined 6-18-3 (W-L-OTL) record in USHL play, including a 2-11-1 mark in road contests.

• The U18s will carry an 18-7-3-4 (W-L-OTL-T) into this weekend’s action. The squad is averaging 3.72 goals per game while allowing just 2.63 goals.

• With back-to-back wins against college opponents, the U18s improved to 7-4-4 (W-L-T) against NCAA competition, including a 3-4-4 mark against NCAA Division I foes.

• It was an NTDP reunion when the U18s faced Michigan on Friday. Six former NTDP players play at Michigan, including Andrew Copp (Ann Arbor, Mich./2010-12), Kevin Lynch (Grosse Pointe, Mich./2007-09) and Jon Merrill (Brighton, Mich./2008-10). The Wolverines were without former NTDP defenseman Jacob Trouba, who was playing for Team USA at the World Juniors. All told, 31 former NTDP players have suited up for the Wolverines through the years.

• Tyler Kelleher (17-17) continues to pace the U18s in points with 34 points. Anthony Louis (Winfield, Ill./14-11) is second with 25 points while Evan Allen (12-11) is third with 23 points. Tyler Motte (12-10) ranks fourth with 22 points. Sean Malone (10-9) rounds out the top-five with 19 points.

• Meanwhile, in goal for the U18s, Thatcher Demko posts a 13-3-0-3 (W-L-OTL-T) mark along with a 2.22 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. Hunter Miska is 5-4-3-1 with a 3.13 GAA and an .853 save percentage.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.