FIRST USHL PLAYOFF WIN: The U.S. National Under-17 Team won its first ever United States Hockey League playoff game on Saturday, April 21, at USA Hockey Arena. The U17s topped the Chicago Steel, 3-0, in the first game of its Eastern Conference Semifinal match-up.
EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINAL RECAP: The U17s eliminated the Chicago Steel on Friday (April 27) at Fox Valley Ice Arena. The U17s took the best of five series, 3-1, including earning two road wins.
The U17s started the series off with a 3-0 win at USA Hockey Arena before falling in Game 2, 6-2.
Team USA won both games at Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Illinois in overtime. Danny Weight (Lattingtown, N.Y.) put home a rebound on Thursday (April 26) to win Game 3 with a 3-2 score. Alex Vlasic (Wilmette, Ill.) netted the overtime-winner on Friday (April 27) shorthanded to win the game, 4-3, and end the series.
Cameron Rowe (Wilmette, Ill.) played all four Conference Semifinal games. The Game 1 shutout was his first shutout of the season.
NTDP PLAYOFF HISTORY: Team USA has made two previous trips to the USHL playoffs since entering the league. Its most recent postseason experience was during the 2011-12 season when they were swept by the Dubuque Fighting Saints (L, 6-3 and L, 7-3) in the first round. They also made the playoffs during the 2010-11 season and were swept in the first round by the Muskegon Lumberjacks (L, 2-0 and L, 5-2).
U18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Members of the NTDP’s Under-18 Team are back from Russia where they competed in the IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Championship from April 15-29. Team USA took home the silver medal after falling to Finland, 3-2, in the gold medal game. Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla./USAH NTDP) earned the Directorate Award as the tournament’s top forward. He was also named to the Media All-Star Team and tournament MVP after leading the tournament in scoring with 12 points (5-7-12). Hughes, Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass./USAH NTDP) and Cam York (Anaheim Hills, Calif./USAH NTDP) were named to the Media All-Star Team.
ROOKIE USHL LEADERS: The NTDP leads the league in rookie scorers. Team USA had 10 of the top 20 rookie points leaders, by far the most of any team. Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) lead rookie scorers with 54 points (21-33-54) in just 27 games played. He was also second among rookies in goals and assists with 21 and 33 respectively. Hughes led rookies in power-play points and power-play assists with thirteen and nine respectively.
Matthew Boldy (Millis, Mass.) came in sixth in rookie scoring with 35 points (12-23-35).
Cole Caufield (Stevens Point, Wis.) tallied 33 points (23-10-33) this season, good for ninth place among rookies. His 23 goals in 32 games, led all rookies.
Ryder Rolston (Birmingham, Mich.) came in a 10th in rookie scoring with 32 points (21-11-32). Rolston was fourth in goals and first in power-play goals with six.
Trevor Zegras (Bedford, N.Y.) (11-21-32) and Alex Turcotte (Island Lake, Ill.) (8-24-32) each tallied 32 points in their rookie campaigns, tying them for 10th in rookie scoring.
John Beecher (Elmira, N.Y.) was 15th in rookie scoring with 25 points (9-16-25), Michael Gildon (Plano, Texas) came in 16th with 23 points (12-11-23), Danny Weight (Lattingtown, N.Y.) finished in 17th with 22 points (12-10-22) and Judd Caulfield (Grand Forks, N.D.) finished 19th in rookie scoring with 21 points (5-16-21).
SHOOT YOUR SHOT: Team USA claimed all five spots in players with the highest shooting percentage throughout the regular season. Cole Caufield (Stevens Point, Wis.) led the way with 29.5% of his shots ending up in the back of the net.
He was followed by Michael Gildon (Plano, Texas) (27.9%), Ryder Rolston (Birmingham, Mich.) (25.6%), Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich.) (25.0%), and Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) (23.3%).
PLAYOFFS & FIRST ROUND BYE CLINCHED: Team USA clinched its spot in the USHL playoffs following a 10-3 win by the U.S. National Under-18 Team against the Madison Capitols at USA Hockey Arena on March 15. In addition, they clinched a first round bye following the 4-1 record (W-L) weekend (March 23-25) against Chicago and Central Illinois. Team USA is heading to the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season. This marks the third time the combined Team USA will compete in the Clark Cup Playoffs.
Information and tickets for the Team USA playoffs is available at USAHockeyNTDP.com/Playoffs.
DERIDDER STAYS PERFECT ON HISTORIC RUN: U.S. National Under-18 Team goaltender Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich.) finished his USHL play with a record of 15-0-0-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL). He’s the only goaltender in the league with over 2 games played that didn’t recorded a loss. He leads Team USA goaltenders in wins, save-percentage (.903), and goals-against-average (2.55). His 25 total wins on the season currently has him tied with Jake Oettinger and Luke Opilka at seventh place on the single-season wins list.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Team USA players to earn USHL Honors this season include Jack Hughes (Forward of the Week, March 12 and Jan. 22), Oliver Wahlstrom (Forward of the Week, March 5 and Oct. 16), K’Andre Miller (Defenseman of the Week, Dec. 11 and Nov. 20), Jonathan Mor (Goaltender of the Week, Nov. 20), Jake Wise (Forward of the Week, March 19), and Ryder Rolston (Forward of the Week, March 25).
JACK HUGHES PASSES 100-POINT MARK: After the conclusion of the Under-18 World Championship, Jack Hughes finished his under-17 season with 116 points in 60 games played. His 116 points, places him in sole possession of second place on the all-time single-season points list passing Clayton Keller who tallied 107 points in his under-18 season. Hughes was one short of the record held by Auston Matthews (2013-15/Toronto Maple Leafs), who recorded 117 points in 60 games during his under-18 season.
The U.S. National Under-18 Team forward broke the scoring record during the under-17 season on March 2nd. He surpassed Clayton Keller (2015-16/Arizona Coyotes) and Phil Kessel (2003-05/Pittsburgh Penguins) who each had 82 points during their under-17 seasons. Hughes accomplished this feat in 15 fewer games than Keller and 16 fewer games than Kessel.
Hughes surpassed Keller, Kessel, Patrick Kane (2004-06/Chicago Blackhawks), Jack Eichel (2012-14/Buffalo Sabres), Sonny Milano (2012-14/Columbus Blue Jackets), Andy Hilbert (1998-99/New York Islanders), Jeremy Bracco (2013-14/Toronto Marlies), and Matthew Tkachuk (2013-15/Calgary Flames).
Hughes also broke Keller’s single season assists record (70) during the Under-18 Championship. Hughes is now first all-time in single-season assists with 76.
ALL-TIME SINGLE-SEASON GOALS RECORD BOOK: U.S National Under-18 Team forward Cole Caufield finished his under-17 season with 54 goals which places his second all-time on the single-season goals list. He passed notable NTDP alumni: Patrick Kane (2005-06/Chicago Blackhawks) who scored 52 goals during his under-18 season and Phil Kessel (2003-05/Pittsburgh Penguins) with 52 goals in both his under-17 and under-18 seasons. Caufield passed notable former NTDP players: Kieffer Bellows (2015-16/Portland Winterhawks), Matthew Tkachuk (2013-15/Calgary Flames), Jack Eichel (2012-14/Buffalo Sabres), and James van Riemsdyk (2005-07/Toronto Maple Leafs).
Caufield nearly broke Auston Matthews’ (2013-15/Toronto Maples Leafs) record of 55 goals which he recorded in 2014-15, his under-18 season.
Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.) finished his season with 48 goals tied for seventh on the all-time single-season goals list. Wahlstrom also finished tied for seventh on the single-season points list.
Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.) finished tenth on the all-time single-season goals list with 40.
TWO-WAY GAME: Team USA boasts four of the top-ten plus-minus leaders in the USHL regular season. Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.) leads the league with +30. Jonathan Gruden is second with +28, and Joel Farabee and Jack Hughes are tied for fourth with +26.
GETTING OFFENSIVE: The offense has flowed for the NTDP this season. The combined Team USA teams finished the regular season with a league-leading 295 goals. That’s an average of 4.91 goals per game. By comparison, the Chicago Steel have the second ranked offense with 219 goals through 60 games which averages out to 3.65 goals per game. It is the highest goals for mark by a team since Team USA joined the USHL in the 2009-10 season; the next highest goals for total was 273 goals scored by the Waterloo Black Hawks in the 2012-13 season.
1+ POINTS PER GAME PLAYERS: A quartet of Team USA players are at the top of the USHL rankings in points per game for the regular season. In his rookie season in the USHL, Jack Hughes averaged two points per game (2.00). Oliver Wahlstrom is second with 1.73 points per game. Jake Wise is third with 1.56 PPG, and Joel Farabee is fourth with 1.54 PPG.
Other Team USA players who averaged at least a point per game in USHL play include Jonathan Gruden (1.36), Cole Caufield (1.03), Alex Turcotte (1.03), Trevor Zegras (1.03), and Matthew Boldy (1.00).
NTDP ALUMNI NAMED TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER: USA Hockey announced the initial roster for the IIHF Men’s World Championship that will take place this month in Denmark. Eight alumni were named to the roster including: Will Butcher (2011-13/New Jersey Devils), Quinn Hughes (2015-17/University of Michigan), Patrick Kane (2004-06/Chicago Blackhawks), Dylan Larkin (2012-14/Detroit Red Wings), Sonny Milano (2012-14/Columbus Blue Jackets), Connor Murphy (2009-11/Chicago Blackhawks), Tage Thompson (2014-15/St. Louis Blues), and Colin White (2013-15/Ottawa Senators).