MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS: The Under-17 Team gears up for a home-and-home set with in-state rival Muskegon this weekend.
The Lumberjacks are off to a hot start for the 2023-24 season, winning five of their opening seven games. They currently sit in third place in the USHL's Eastern Conference with 10 points.
Muskegon has a tiro of forwards that have been their top point producers. Matvei Gridin's six goals tops the team and tied for second among all USHL skaters. Joe Connor's eight helpers lead all Lumberjack skaters and Cody Croal has pitched in four goals and seven assists in the team's seven games. All three forwards have recorded 11 points on the year to rank them t-3rd among all USHL players.
Muskegon has run a fairly even split in net between Lukas Swedin and Paxton Geisel. The latter has a perfect 3-0-0 record with a 3.13 GAA and .885 SV%. Swedin, hailing from Sweden, owns a 2-1-0 record in three games to pair with an impressive 2.70 goals against average and .927 save percentage.
UTICA PIONEERS: The U18s continue their 23-24 Kroger College Series with a two-game trip through Central New York, beginning in Utica on Friday evening.
The game will be the Pioneers' first of the season before they play host to Adrian College and Stevenson University, two future NTDP opponents, the following two weekends.
Utica lost nine of its 10 leading scorers from the 2022-23 campaign, but returns defenseman Kimball Johnson, who produced 27 points (6g-21a) in 26 games last year.
The top returning forward is center Jakob Breault, who was also over a point-per-game last year with 24 (11g-13a) in 23 games played.
6-foot-6 netminder Bryan Landsberger, who played in 29 games for the Pios last year, returns to the cage this season. He produced a studly 1.90 GAA and .919 SV% for Utica in 2022-23 after a ridiculous 0.73 GAA and .962 SV% in eight games in 2021-22.
The game will be the seventh matchup between the programs in series history, dating back to 2009. Each side has won three games, the NTDP taking last year's tilt by a 6-2 final.
CORNELL BIG RED: The U18s complete the weekend trip in Ithaca, N.Y., to take on the Big Red. The game will also be Cornell's first action on the ice for the season.
Cornell returns a big portion of their production from last season, including leading scorer Gabriel Seger, who produced 30 points (7g-23a) in 30 games last year. Dalton Bancroft and Nick DeSantis are also back for the Big Red, who both picked up 20+ points in 2022-23.
Ian Shane manned the net for the majority of last season as the Californian went 20-10-1 with a 1.72 GAA and .916 SV%. Remington Keopple, a member of Team USA's 2022 World Junior squad, is also featured on Cornell's roster.
The NTDP has had limited success against a traditionally older, more experienced Big Red roster as Cornell holds an 8-1-1 advantage in the all-time series. Team USA's lone win came back on October 24, 2009, with a 3-2 final.