MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS: The Muskegon Lumberjacks come out of the USHL holiday break sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, with a 15-9-1-1 record, good for 32 points.

The 'Jacks are led by forward Matvei Gridin, who paces the team with 14 goals and 30 total points. Ethan Whitcomb's 19 helpers leads the team, while Sacha Boisvert (14g-10a--24pts) and Cody Croal (9g-14a--23pts) have both eclipsed the 20-point plateau.

Easton Young has 15 points (1g-14a) top top the team's scoring from the blue line Xavier Veilleux has broken into double digits with his 12 points (1g-11a) on the campaign.

In cage, Lukas Swedin and Paxton Geisel have been a tandem split nearly down the middle in terms of playing time. Sweden has posted a 5-4-1-0 record, 3.24 GAA and .887 SV% in his 14 appearances. The latter owns a 6-3-0-1 record in 11 games, with a 3.86 GAA and .870 SV%.

Muskegon topped the U18s in Game 1 of the season series back on September 29 on the west side, and the two teams will square off twice more throughout the remainder of the season, the U18s' final two games of the season on April 5-6 before they head to the 2024 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship in Finland.

WATERLOO BLACK HAWKS: Western conference foe Waterloo hosts the first game of the U17s' three-game weekend Thursday night in Iowa.

The Black Hawks are 13-11-0-0, having played the second-fewest games in the league prior to the break. Their 26 points are good for fifth place, but they are one of the hottest teams in the leauge, having won seven of their last 10 games.

Waterloo is led by a trio of forwards averaging over a point-per-game. John Mustard leads the squad with 14 goals and is tied for the team lead with 28 points. Gavyn Thoreson (6g-22a) has also matched the point total in a puck distributor role. Jakub Altrichter has pitched in 20 points (5g-15a) in 19 games to help spur the offense.

Tyler Miller and Jake Delaney have been the biggest producers from the blue line, as both have five goals thus far.

Calvin Vachon is the lone qualified netminder for the Black Hawks and he's been excellent, with a 12-4-0-0 record, 2.67 GAA and .909 SV%.

This will be the only game between the U17s and Black Hawks this year; Waterloo travels to USA Hockey Arena to take on the Under-18 Team on March 1.

GREEN BAY GAMBLERS: The Under-17 Team rounds out its weekend with a pair of games in Green Bay; the Gamblers took the first meeting of the season by a 6-2 final back on September 29.

The Gamblers have incredible depth up front as five players have eclipsed the 20-point plateau. Blake Bechen's 25 points leads the team, while Jayson Shaugabay has a team-high 20 assists and sits second with 24 points. Libor Nemec's 13 goals tops the Gamblers and Ben Poitras' 21 points ranks fifth. Julian Lutz, t-3rd on the team in points, will not be with the team as he is competing for Germany at the 2024 IIFH World Junior Championship in Sweden. 

Adam Gajan is the only qualified goaltender for the Gamblers, but he is with Lutz in Sweden as the top netminder for Slovakia.

NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS: The U18s return to their Kroger College Series Saturday evening to take on the Fighting Hawks of North Dakota, currently ranked 4th in the country in the USA Hockey / The Rink Live Men's College Hockey Poll.

North Dakota preps for their second half after going 12-5-1 before the holidays, but come in losers of three straight after dropping a pair in overtime at home to Colorado College on Dec. 8-9. 

The Fighting Hawks are paced by forward Jackson Blake, whose 11 goals and 22 points both lead the team. Garrett Pyke has pitched in a team-high 12 helpers while Cameron Berg (7-10--17), Owen McLaughlin (4-1--15) and Riese Gaber (8-6--14) have all added to the offensive punch.

Goaltender Ludvig Persson has started all 18 games for North DAkota, playing to a 12-5-1 record, 2.21 GAA, .909 SV% while accumulating three shutouts on the year.

The game will be the 15th all-time matchup between the two sides. Team USA's lone win in the series came back on Jan. 1, 2022 as they shut out UND by a 2-0 final. In the most recent matchup, the Fighting Hawks fought back to win 4-3 in overtime on New Year's Eve last year.

MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS: The jam packed NTDP weekend of games ends Monday afternoon in Minneapolis as the U18s visit the Golden Gophers.

Minnesota will skate down four of its top players, who are playing with Team USA at the World Junior Championship - defensemen Sam Rinzel and Ryan Chesley and forwards Jimmy Snuggerud and Oliver Moore.

The No. 9 Gophers own a 9-5-4 record in the first half, and earned a win (5-4) and tie (1-1) in their latest series against Ohio State.

Bryce Brodzinksi (10-9--19) and Rhett Pitlick (9-9--18) are the two leading point getters for the team. Snuggerud is the leading goal scorer, while Moore and Rinzel are tied for the team lead in assists, and as all three are unavailable, UM will look to use its depth to extend its two-game winning streak against Team USA.

The game will be the 12th all-time matchup; Team USA owns a 2-8-1 record.