MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS: The U.S. National Under-18 Team plays its final game of the season at USA Hockey Arena as they host the Muskegon Lumberjacks for a Tuesday night contest to finish the season series.
Muskegon is still eligible for the 2023 Clark Cup Playoffs, but comes into the week one spot out and seven points behind Cedar Rapids for the final position in the Eastern Conference. The Lumberjacks have won two games in a row and are 5-4-1-0 in their last 10 games played.
The 'Jacks feature a balanced scoring attack, with four current forwards having at least 30 points on the season. Cody Croal leads the squad with 24 assists and 38 total points and Ethan Whitcomb has posted a team-high 20 goals with 35 points on the campaign. Additionally, rookie forward Sacha Boisvert's 35 points (16g-19a) puts him in the top-10 of all USHL rookies.
A quartet of Muskegon defenseman have eclipsed the 20-point plateau, led by Nathan McBrayer's 29 point (7g-22a) season. George Fegaras (3g-21a), Tyler Dunbar (3g-19a) and Gavin McCarthy (5g-15a) have all aided with production from the blue line.
Conor Callaghan and Raythan Robbins continue to lead the team in net. The former has collected 14 wins on the year with a 3.55 GAA and .884 SV% while Robbins is 8-13-1 wit ha 3.96 goals-against and .888 save percentage in 23 appearances.
The U18s are 5-1-0 in the season series against Muskegon and look to win the finale.
MADISON CAPITOLS: The Under-17 Team plays just once this week, a Sunday matinee in Madison to take on the Capitols.
The Caps have been eliminated from postseason contention and are 1-8-1-0 in their last 10 games.
Jack Musa and Nathan Lewis spur the offense for the Wisconsin team. Musa's 17 goals and 33 points leads the team as Lewis' 22 helpers is a team-high for the campaign.
Will Felicio paces the back end with 24 points (3g-21a) in 51 games played while Nick Wallace has added 20 points (3g-17a).
Madison rosters a pair of qualified goaltenders in Ratislav Elias and Mason Kucenski. The Slovakian Elias has been the better of the pair, but comes in with a 6-16-0-1 record, 4.26 GAA and .856 SV%. Kucenski has added six wins in his 29 appearances.
A victory for the U17s would solidify the season-long series win as Team USA has taken two of the first three thus far on the season. The matchup is the final one between Team USA and Madison.
CHICAGO STEEL: The U18s end their extremely impressive 2022-23 USHL schedule with a pair of games against the Chicago Steel this weekend.
The Steel's Macklin Celebrini leads the USHL in goals (43) and overall scoring (76 pts) and has 29 points (19g-10) over his last 14 games played. The Steel also have the third, fourth and fifth overall scorers in the leauge. Jack Harvey (34g-31a--65 pts), Jayden Perron (21g-43a--64 pts) and Nicholas Moldenhauer (35g-35a--60pts) all help the high-powered Chicago offensive output.
Anthony Dowd and Jake Livanavage hold down the fort on the defensive end. Dowd leads the team with 30 points (3g-27a) while the latter is just a point behind (5g-24a).
Jack Stark and Christian Manz have manned the net all season for Chicago. In 21 appearances, Stark is 16-4-1-0 with a 3.16 GAA and .913 SV%. Manz has seen action in 29 games and earned a 17-9-2-1 record with a 3.47 GAA and .898 SV% for the Steel.
The two sides have met only one time previously this season, a 5-4 overtime victory for the Steel back on December 9 at USA Hockey Arena.