With international play just one week away, the National Team Development Program has a quiet week ahead. The U.S. National Under-17 Team is off this week before heading to Finland for the Five Nations Tournament. Meanwhile, the U.S. National Under-18 squad has just a single home game on Thursday (Jan. 31) before going to Sweden for their Five Nations Tournament.

U18 TEAM COMING OFF GOOD WEEK: After winning two of three college games last week, the U18s will return to the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Ice Cube on Thursday to face the Youngstown Phantoms. Face-off is set for 7 p.m. EST.

“This is a good tune-up before our second international event,” U18 head coach Don Granato said. “We want to put together a complete 60-minutes of play and work on some different areas of our game. We want to continue the momentum we have gained the past few weeks.”
 
The U18s posted a 2-1-0 (W-L-T) record in three college contests last week. A 3-0 victory over Michigan State on Tuesday (Jan. 22) and a 7-1 victory over Wisconsin-Superior on Sunday (Jan. 27) sandwiched a 3-1 loss to Minnesota Duluth on Saturday (Jan. 26).

Thatcher Demko (San Diego, Calif.) kicked out 22 shots in the win at Michigan State. Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wis.), Kevin Labanc (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Anthony Louis (Winfield, Ill.) registered the goals in the win.

Against Minnesota Duluth, Michael McCarron (Macomb, Mich.) scored the lone goal while Demko kicked out 31 shots in net.

Tyler Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) recorded the hat trick to pace the scoring at Wisconsin-Superior while Evan Allen (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and John Hayden (Greenwich, Conn.) each netted two goals. In net, Hunter Miska (North Branch, Minn.) stopped 10 shots.

U17 TEAM OFF UNTIL FIVE NATIONS: After dropping three United States Hockey League contests last week, the U17s will enjoy a week’s break before beginning play at their final international tournament of the year, the Five Nations Tournament in Finland.

The U17s finished with a 0-3-0 (W-L-OTL) mark last week, falling 4-1 to Sioux Falls on Friday (Jan. 25), and 3-1 and 5-0 to Dubuque on Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 26 and 27), respectively.

Against Sioux Falls, Ryan MacInnis (St. Louis, Mo.) scored the lone goal while Edwin Minney (Wind Gap, Pa.) stopped 37-of-41 shots in the net.

In game one against Dubuque, Sonny Milano (Massapequa, N.Y.) scored the lone goal while Blake Weyrick (Ojai, Calif.) stopped 29 shots in his first full game action. In the second game, Edwin Minney stopped 38 shots.

“The nice thing is we have next weekend off before heading out next Sunday,” U17 head coach Danton Cole said. “It gives us six days of practice, plus we will be to get some players healthy. We will go back to work and start preparing for the big ice. If we can keep the defensive intensity we have had since the [World] U17 Challenge and work on our special teams, we should be prepared.”

NOTEBOOK
• U18 forward John Hayden, who scored the lone goal for Team East at the 2013 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, earned MVP honors for his efforts on Jan. 23. The East squad dropped a 2-1 decision to Team West in the game.

• Two more former NTDP players have been selected to participate in the 2013 AHL All-Star Classic game, which runs Jan. 27-28 in Providence, R.I. J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio/2009-11/Connecticut) and Chris Summers (Milan, Mich./2004-06/Portland) have been added to the roster.

Miller is the youngest participant in this year’s All-Star Classic. He most recently won a gold medal with the United States at the 2013 World Junior Championships.

• Thatcher Demko posted his fifth shutout of the season at Michigan State. The five blankings place him third on the NTDP’s single-season shutouts list. Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich./2008-09) and Jeff Frazee (Burnsville, Minn./2004-05) share the single-season mark with six.

• The U18s carry a 23-9-3-4 (W-L-OTL-T) record into this week’s play.

• Tyler Kelleher (20-20) paces the U18s with 40 points while Evan Allen (15-15) is second with 30 points. Anthony Louis (15-13) ranks third with 28 points while Tyler Motte (St. Clair, Mich./15-11) holds down the fourth spot with 26 points. Sean Malone (West Seneca, N.Y./12-11) rounds out the fifth spot with 23 points.

• In goal for the U18s, Thatcher Demko is 16-5-0-3 (W-L-OTL-T) along with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. Hunter Miska is 7-4-3-1 with a 2.95 GAA and an .856 save percentage.

• The U17s carry a 13-23-2 (W-L-OTL) mark into their final international tournament of the season.

• Sonny Milano (16-19) paces the U17s with 35 points. Jack Eichel (15-12) is second with 27 points while Chris Wilkie (Omaha, Neb./12-14) ranks third with 26 points. Rounding out the top five are Dylan Larkin (8-14) and Alex Tuch (Baldwinsville, N.Y./7-12) who are fourth and fifth, respectively, with 22 and 19 points.

• In goal for the U17s, Edwin Minney is 7-15-2 with a 4.44 GAA and an .869 save percentage. Blake Weyrick is 0-1-0 with a 2.61 GAA and a .931 save percentage.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.