“It was great to see our hard work pay off,” said U17 head coach Dan Muse. “The guys really came together, and we were able to see the progress that we had made from the start of the year to now. It was the first time that we were playing in our age group and they really put in the work to prepare for the tournament. We were so happy for our players to find that success, be rewarded and win the trophy.”

For U17 forward Oliver Moore and goalie Trey Augustine, it was an experience that they will never forget.

“It was amazing,” said Moore, who tallied three goals and six points in the tournament. “The feeling that you get when you put on the jersey and represent your country, it’s unbelievable. You have so much pride in wearing the logo. It was a crazy experience and something that I will never forget.

“The Czech game is when everyone really bought in. We wanted to play for the win. In order to win, we had to play for our teammates.”

Muse could see the growth and development of the U17s from the start of the season to this first international tournament break.

“For me, it was seeing the work that they had put in in this first tournament,” he said. “The players have shown growth, both individually and as a group. I hope they feel that reward and see the work that they put in on a daily basis. You can see the gains they made in practice and off the ice. I hope it will drive them even more to improve their game.”

The U17s begin a stretch of six USHL games and one contest at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, starting with a Nov. 24 matinee contest against the Muskegon Lumberjacks at USA Hockey Arena. Muse is hoping that the team can take some of the lessons learned abroad and apply them to the upcoming schedule.

“It’s definitely different playing older players when you compare and contrast how it felt different in international games,” he said. “It’s definitely hard to play within your own age group, too. Now, we are returning to USHL play and we need to take the successes we had internationally and apply those lessons into this next stretch of games.”

“We talked about getting better each game. We started the final game against Finland going up 4-0 in the first period and the guys could really see that effort playing out. They worked hard and got to bring home the trophy.”

U18 forward Rutger McGroarty, who led the U18s in scoring with four goals and eight points, also was grateful to finally play internationally in his own age group.

“Honestly, it was extremely cool,” he said. “We missed out on it last year and that was the longest an NTDP [team] had gone without playing internationally. We do want to be top dogs, but we know we still have work to do to improve since we will still see Canada and Russia.”

Meanwhile, U18 forward Jimmy Snuggerud, who tallied two hat-tricks and finished with seven points during the tournament, enjoyed his first international experience.

“It was really great to play guys our own age,” he said. “It was definitely more skilled games, and I really enjoyed it. It was amazing to see how different each of the teams were as the Czechs played well defensively while the Swiss were more offensive oriented. All the teams were skilled across the board."

It should be no surprise that one of McGroarty’s favorite moments was the final game against Finland.

“We knew that if we win then we win it all, and of course, if [Finland] would win that game, they will win the tournament,” he said. “The guys before the game were really fired up. It was our first international tournament and we wanted to win for us and for the coaches. We were very hungry to win.”

Even then, the team is not satisfied. McGroarty understands the work that still needs to be completed in order for the team to achieve their final goal.

“We know what we need to work on to improve every single day, and we need to stick to our game plan. We need to play the right way,” he said.