CHICAGO STEEL:  The 2022-23 U.S. National Under-17 Team plays for the first time in front of their home fans at USA Hockey Arena as they host the Chicago Steel for a pair of games this weekend.

Chicago comes into the weekend on top of the USHL's Eastern Conference with eight points in six games played, ahead of Team USA by two points with two games in hand.

The Steel split their pair of matchups last weekend, losing to Dubuque on home ice by a 6-4 final Friday night before following that up with a 6-4 win in Madison on Saturday evening.

Chicago routinely has some of the biggest point producers in the league and this year's start has been no different as they roster the three leading point getters thus far on the young season.

Nicholas Moldenhauer leads the league with seven goals and nine points. He's aided by forwards Jack Harvey (5g-3a) and Mick Thompson (3g-5a), whose eight points apiece sits them in second place in USHL scoring. Jayden Perron's seven helpers is two more than any other player in the league.

In net, the Steel have split their six contests between Christian Manz and Jack Stark. Both sport 2-1-0 records into the weekend, while Manz has the slight edge with a 2.35 GAA and .927 SV% to Stark's 3.34 GAA and .920 SV%.

ST. THOMAS TOMMIES: The U18s travel to the Gopher State for a pair of Kroger College Series games, beginning Friday night at the University of St. Thomas.

The Tommies have skated in four games with a 1-3-0 record, but won their most recent matchup, a 3-2 home win over Alaska-Fairbanks Saturday night.

The team has yet to produce a multi-goal scorer on the campaign, instead spreading the scoring duties throughout the roster.

Freshman forwards Ryan O'Neill and Lucas Wahlin lead the team with three points apiece through four games, while Josh Eernisse netted the game-winning score on Saturday night.

Aaron Trotter has gotten the nod in net for three of the four games, playing to the team's lone win with a 3.04 goals-against average and .886 save percentage.

The game will be the third in history between the NTDP and Tommies, with Team USA having won the previous two, a 6-3 game in 2016 and an 8-1 victory in the first matchup in 2012.

BETHEL ROYALS: The U18s will wrap the weekend against the Bethel College Royals for the first ever meeting between the two sides and the first matchup against a Division III squad for the 2022-23 season.

The Royals have yet to hit the ice in game action, but have a deeply experienced roster that returns its top-11 leading scorers from the 2021-22 campaign.

Senior forward Jarrett Cammarata led last year's team with 16 assists and 22 points in 27 games played while Maryland native Dylan Giorgio returns after being the lone Royals skater to net double-digit goals last season.

Bethel returns a pair of junior netminders from last season. After Ridge Gerads graduated, Travis Allen played the majority of the returning minutes in net while 6-foot-4 Sam Metcalf projects to step into a bigger role this season.