CHICAGO STEEL:  The Chicago Steel visit USA Hockey Arena for the second time this season after splitting a pair with the U17s back on October 14-15 in Michigan.

The Steel sit on top of the Eastern Conference, seven points up on 2nd-place Team USA, with a 14-5-1-1 record through 21 games played.

Steel forward Jack Harvey leads the USHL in goals with 18 and total points with 32. Fellow forwards Jayden Perron (12g-15a--27pts), Michael Emerson (11g-13a--24pts), Mack Celebrini (13g-10a--23pts) and Mick Thompson (8g-15a--23pts) are all in the top-10 scorers across the league.

On the back end, the Steel are led by a pair of defenseman who have both seen time in previous seasons with Team USA in Jake Livanavage (3g-12a--15pts) and Anthony Dowd (1g-11a--12pts).

In net, Christian Manz has seen action in 13 of the team's 20 games, sporting a 3.57 GAA and .887 SV%. He's backed up by Yale commit Jack Stark, who has posted a 6-1-0 record with a 2.56 GAA and .931 SV% in seven appearances for Chicago this season.

After this weekend, Chicago will return to USA Hockey Arena for only one more matchup, a Sunday tilt with the U17s on January 29, 2023.

The U17s will travel to Fox Valley Ice Arena for a series in February, while the U18s close out their regular season with two in Chicago on April 1-2.

MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS: The U.S. National Under-17 Team will travel to in-state rival Muskegon for their last tuneup before heading overseas for the December U17 Four Nations in Switzerland.

Muskegon is tied with Team USA for second place in the East with 23 points, but has skated in three more contests.

The Lumberjacks' Jake Richard has been on a tear of late as he comes in off being named the USHL Forward of the Week. In three games last weekend, the Buffalo Sabres draft pick potted three goals and added four assists for seven total points to bring his season numbers to 22 points (10g-12a) in 19 games played.

Additionally, Ethan Whitcomb has aided the offensive punch with 11 scores on the season.

Gavin McCarthy has been one of the league's best blueliners and currently ranks third in scoring defensemen with 18 points (4g-14a) in 20 games. Gavin's older brother, Case, was a member of the 2001-born NTDP group and is currently a senior at Boston University.

Muskegon has split the net between Conor Callaghan and Noah Rupprecht so far this season. Callaghan has gotten 14 games of action with an impressive 9-3-1 record, 3.21 GAA and .886 SV%. In backup duty, Rupprecht has produced a 4.33 GAA and .859 SV% in six games on the campaign.

The 'Jacks will make a return trip to USA Hockey Arena next week for Team USA's annual Kids Day game, Wednesday morning against the U18s.

UTICA PIONEERS: The Utica Pioneers, in the midst of their Christmas break, will travel to the Midwest for a Saturday night matchup with the U18s for Team USA's Teddy Bear Toss game, supporting the Salvation Army.

The game will be the sixth in program history between the NTDP and Utica, the previous pair of matchups coming in February 2021 when the Under-17 team traveled to Central New York for a weekend split.

Remy Parker leads the Pios with six goals on the season, Jakob Breault follows with five tallies, while five other Utica skaters have added four scores apiece.

Connor Fedorek's 11 points (0g-11a--11pts) leads all Pioneers defensemen while the assist total leads the team.

Bryan Landsberger, who sports an 8-2-1-1 record, 2.51 GAA and .909 SV% in 11 starts leads Utica in net.

The last time the Pioneers skated at USA Hockey Arena, they came back from a 4-1 deficit to beat the U18s, 5-4.