Commess-0: Under-18 goaltender Drew Commesso (Boston, Mass.) earned his fourth career shutout at the USHL Fall Classic this past weekend. Commesso turned aside all 26 shots he faced from the Sioux City Musketeers en route to a 4-0 Team USA win. The shutout was also the second of his USHL career.

Lucky Sevens: Under-18 forward Luke Tuch (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) has recorded seven points on the season thus far. Tuch leads the U18s in points with his three goals and four assists in three games played.

Defenseman of the Week: Daniel Laatsch (Altoona, Wisc.) earned USHL Defenseman of the Week honors for the week of Sept. 23-29 after picking up a goal and two assists at the USHL Fall Classic. He earned all three points in the U18s 5-2 win against Green Bay, a career-high effort for the 6-foot-5 blueliner.

Beniers Commits: U18 forward Matthew Beniers (Hingham, Mass.) announced his commitment to Harvard University earlier this week. He will be the 20th former NTDP player to suit up for the Crimson. 

ND Alumni: The NTDP has strong ties with the University of Notre Dame as six former players are on the Irish roster including: Dylan St. Cyr (2015-17), Jake Pivonka (2016-18), Graham Slaggert (2015-17), Spencer Stastney (2016-18), Matt Hellickson (2014-16), and Trevor Janicke (2016-18).  Fighting Irish head coach, Jeff Jackson, was also the head coach and senior director at the NTDP from 1996-2000.

The NTDP has sent 39 players to the University of Notre Dame all-time inducing: Anders Bjork (Boston Bruins, NTDP 2012-14), Ian Cole (Colorado Avalanche; NTDP 2005-07), Bryan Rust (Pittsburgh Penguins, NTDP 2008-10) and current NTDP Under-17 Team head coach John Wroblewski (NTDP 1997-1999).

NMU Alumni: The NTDP has sent six alumni to Northern Michigan University but none are currently on the Wildcats roster.

College Commitment: The NTDP currently has three Under-18 Team players committed to the University of Notre Dame. Landon Slaggert (South Bend, Ind.), Brock Faber (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Hunter Strand (Anchorage, Alaska) are all headed to South Bend after the season. Sasha Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla.), Justin Janicke (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Ethan Straky (Ormond Beach, Fla.) of the Under-17 Team are also committed the Fighting Irish. 

U17s Score 17: The Under-17 Team had an offensive explosion Sunday (Sept. 29) as they squared off against MSP Magazine at the Minnesota Elite League, scoring 17 goals. Chaz Lucius (Grant, Minn.) netted five goals in the high-scoring affair while Justin Janicke (Maple Grove, Minn.) added a hat trick. Janicke added three assists for a six-point day while Jack Hughes (Westwood, Mass.) collected five assists. The 17 goals scored is an NTDP record.

NTDP in the NCAA: As the NCAA schedule kicks-off this week the NTDP has 56 alumni suiting up for college teams. Boston College and Boston University lead the way with eight NTDP alumni each while the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin have seven apiece.

NTDP in the NHL: The NHL season is underway as of Wednesday (Oct. 2) and the NTDP has a record-high 72 alumnus on Opening Night rosters across the league. The Anaheim Ducks and New Jersey Devils lead the way with six alumni each. The Colorado Avalanche, and Minnesota Wild have five former NTDP players on their rosters.

 U18s NCAA Schedule: In total, the Under-18 team will host six college opponents at USA Hockey Arena as part of the NTDP vs. NCAA College Series, including Northern Michigan University (Oct. 5), the University of Notre Dame (Oct. 6), the University of North Dakota (Dec. 28), the University of Wisconsin (Jan. 1), Boston University (Jan. 3) and Lake Superior State University (Jan. 31)/  Fans can take advantage of a special college series package ticket option at USAHockeyNTDP.com/CollegeSeries.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS AT USA HOCKEY ARENA: The NTDP will host  a variety of  promotional nights at USA Hockey Arena in the month of October:

Sun., Oct 6— U18 Poster Giveaway | Team Autographs

Fri., Oct. 11 — U17 Poster Giveaway | Team Autographs

Fri., Oct. 18 — $5 Fun Night

Sun., Oct. 20 — 2nd Annual Sensory Friendly Game

Fri., Oct. 25 — $5 Fun Night

Sat., Oct. 26 — Stay & Skate with the U17 Team

A full list of USA Hockey promotional nights are available at USAHockeyNTDP.com/Promos