HENNYTHING IS POSSIBLE: U17 defenseman Logan Hensler (Woodbury, Minn.) comes off the weekend split against the RoughRiders with two more points (1g-1a) to add to his season total and bring it to 24. Hensler helped Team USA earn a crucial point in Friday’s overtime loss as the team pushed for home ice for the playoffs.

Down one with under a minute left to play in regulation, Hensler took a pass from Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.), and sent his slapshot past the outstretched glove of the Roughriders goaltender to force overtime.

After the U17 Five Nations Tournament in February, the last international tournament on the U17s schedule, the defenseman sat with 10 points through 40 games played for .25 ppg. Since then, Hensler has tallied at least a point in 11 of his last 13 games.

During that span, he doubled his point total to 24 with five goals and nine assists. He recorded multi-point nights in back-to-back games which includes a season-high three points against the Eastern Conference leading Chicago Steel. In an 8-5 win, on the road, Hensler got the scoring started for the team which cut Chicago’s lead in half and he assisted on two of the next three goals.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS: With an upcoming pair of home games left remaining on the regular season schedule, Team USA is in the driver’s seat to secure their best home season record since moving to Plymouth in 2015. With the help of the U18s going 19-0-0-2, the U.S. enters the weekend with a 29-7-1-2 record while facing off inside USA Hockey Arena.

The 2017-18 season, which saw names like Cole Caufield, Trevor Zegras, Jack Hughes and Matthew Boldy is the closest team to this seasons W% (.782) with a .738 of their own. With a win this weekend, Team USA can match that season’s win total (30) and would surpass their point total of 62. In total, the U.S. is 183-101-29 (W-L-OTL/SOL) for a .631 W%.

HUG(HES) ME BROTHER!: Former NTDP'er Luke Hughes (Canton, Mich. / 2019-21) closed out his college career with University of Michigan and took his next step in his hockey career. A fourth overall pick by the New Jersey Devils at the 2021 NHL draft, Luke was drafted two years after brother Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla. / 2017-19) was selected first overall by the same team. On Tuesday, April 11, the two finally teamed up after Luke signed an entry-level deal with New Jersey and was set in the lineup versus the Buffalo Sabres.

Both Luke and Jack were on the ice for the opening draw as the Devils went on to beat the Sabres, 6-2. Luke finished with 11:15 TOI in his debut, while brother Jack broke the Devils single-season point record at 97 after he netted a goal in the third.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PLAYOFFS: With Team USA’s shutout win against Cedar Rapids Saturday (April 8), they secured at least one round of playoffs at home for the first time since the 2017-18 postseason run. Playoff seeding has yet to be determined as the U.S. can finish either with the #1, #2 or the #3 seed depending how the last two weeks of the regular season shake out. The U17s take the reins of Team USA as the U18s compete in the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship in Switzerland.

In 2017-18, Team USA finished atop the Eastern Conference for the first time with a 41-18-0-1 record and remains the only time the U.S. earned a first-round bye. After the team took the best-of-5 series against the Steel 3-1, Team USA ultimately fell to the Youngstown Phantoms in the conference finals, three games to one. Erik Middendorf (Scottsdale, Ariz. / NTDP 2016-18) led the team in goals scored during the run with six.

Overall, Team USA is 4-9-1-0 in the postseason with a -19 goal differential, having scored 44 goals.

The USHL's Clark Cup Playoffs will feature 12 teams, six from each of the Eastern and Western Conferences, beginning on Monday, April 24. The opening round will begin with a three-game first round series between the #3 and #6 seeds and #4 and #5 seeds. All three games will be played at the higher seed's home location on three consecutive nights.

IIHF UNDER-18 MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: The Under-18 Team finished up its domestic schedule and now sights will be set on preparing for the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Men's World Championship later this month in Basel and Porrentruy, Switzerland.

The tournament will be the 24th such event hosted by the IIHF and includes Canada, Czechia, Germany, Slovakia and Sweden in Group A, and Finland, Latvia, Norway, Switzerland and the United States competing in Group B.

The U.S. opens tournament play on Thursday, April 20, when they take on Latvia in the preliminary round at 4:00 p.m. local (10:00 a.m. ET) at St. Jakob Arena in Basel. All Team USA tournament games will broadcast live on NHL Network.