MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS:  The Under-18 Team matches up with Muskegon this weekend for a home-and-home set that begins Friday night on the western end of the Mitten.

The Lumberjacks come into the weekend in seventh place, one position out of the playoff race in the USHL's Eastern Conference.

A trio of forwards pace the 'Jacks offensive attack. Cody Croal leads the squad with 34 points (13g-21a) in 48 games played, while Ethan Whitcomb's 18 scores tops their team. Rookie forward Sacha Boisvert has also pitched in 32 points with 16 goals and 16 assists on the year.

Nathan McBrayer has been the Lumberjacks' top defenseman as his six goals, 21 assists and four special-teams goals lead all Muskegon blueliners.

The team rosters a pair of qualified goaltenders in Conor Callaghan and Raythan Robbins. The former has appeared in 26 games with a 14-8-2 record, 3.55 GAA and .884 SV% for Muskegon. Robbins has a 5-12-1 record in 19 games, with a 3.94 goals-against average and .886 save percentage for the 'Jacks.

After the weekend, the U18s and Lumberjacks will close out their season series as Muskegon returns to USA Hockey Arena for a Tuesday night tilt on March 28.

GREEN BAY GAMBLERS: The U.S. National Under-17 Team takes their first USHL trip to America's Dairyland for a pair in Green Bay.

The Gamblers are winless in their last five games but sit firmly in a playoff spot, currently in 4th place in the East with 56 points  (26-19-2-2) in 49 games played.

Green Bay owns an extremely balanced scoring attack as eight skaters have 29-or-more points. Eli Sebastian leads the crew with a team-high 27 assists and 43 points on the campaign. Matthew DiMarsico tops the group with 19 goals while Raimonds Vitolins (16g-21a), Jimmy Clark (14g-22a) and Barrett Hall (13g-19a) have all hit the 30-point mark.

On the back end, Belarussian defenseman Artyom Levshunov has been on of the league's top defensemen this season as he has produced 31 points (10g-21a) in 49 games. The 6-foot-2, 199-pound blueliner leads all first-year defensemen in goals and ranks second in points for rookies.

Kristoffer Eberly is the Gamblers' lead goaltender with 34 appearances on the year. He has a solid 19-11-1-2 record to pair with a 2.91 GAA and .895 SV% as Green Bay's only qualified netminder this season.

The two sides will meet up again in the final series of the USHL season, as Green Bay pays a return visit to USA Hockey Arena on April 14-15.