YOUNGSTOWN PHANTOMS:  The U.S. National Under-17 Team returns to home ice for Heroes Appreciation Weekend at USA Hockey Arena to host the Youngstown Phantoms for a pair on Friday and Saturday.

The Phantoms come into the weekend in third place in the bunched-up Eastern Conference of the USHL. Youngstown owns a 25-14-4-1 record with 55 points, four more than Team USA as the U.S. has four games in hand.

Mid-season acquisition Andon Cerbone leads Youngstown skaters with 45 points (18g-27a) in 46 games played overall, but has been well over a point-per-game in his stint in Ohio, with 31 points (12g-19a) in 25 games. William Whitelaw (23g-18a--41pts) and Shane Lachance (26g-14a--40pts) have also eclipsed the 40-point mark to help lead the Phantoms offensive charge.

Andrew Strathmann has been one of the league's best defensemen and leads the team's blueliners with 31 points (2g-29a) in 38 games, good for fifth-most points by any defenseman in the USHL.

Goaltender Jacob Fowler comes off his fifth USHL Goaltender of the Week award after he went 2-1-0 in three appearances, with a 1.31 GAA and .950 SV%. On the season, Fowler is 18-8-3-1 wit ha 2.36 GAA and .921 SV%, both of which rank second amongst all qualified USHL netminders.

The series will be the final for Youngstown at USA Hockey Arena, but the U17s will cap their regular season with a pair in Ohio on April 21-22.

GREEN BAY GAMBLERS: The U.S. National Under-18 Team takes the trip to Wisconsin to face former NTDP coach Mike Leone and the Green Bay Gamblers for a pair of games.

Green Bay sits in second place in the Eastern Conference with 55 points from 44 games played. This weekend will be the final games between the U18s and Gamblers this season, while the U17s will travel to Wisconsin for the final NTDP series on March 17-18.

Eli Sebastian leads the Gamblers with 41 points (14g-27a) in 44 games played. Raimonds Vitolins, Jimmy Clark and Matthew DiMarsico all have 30+ points to aid the Green Bay scoring.

Rookie Belarussian defenseman Artyom Levshunov is the leader of the Gamblers blue line as he's picked up 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points on the campaign. His 10 goals scored ranks third among all USHL blueliners.

Backstop Kristoffer Eberly is the lone qualified goaltender on the Gamblers as he's seen action in 30 games this year and played to a 19-8-1-1 record with a 2.83 GAA and .896 SV%.