Under-18 team forward Charlie Pardue (Winnetka, Ill.) won a national championship with the Chicago Mission 15O in 2022, which is a memory that’ll live with him forever.

“Growing up as a kid, the national championship is something that everyone looks forward to,” Pardue said. “It was my last year in youth hockey, and I grew up playing with those kids in the Chicago area. Not only was it a personal achievement for me, but for the guys on the team and the Mission organization.”

Before playing in the national championship game, Pardue scored four goals in the semifinals against the Dallas Junior Stars.

“It’s definitely a game that I look back and remember,” he said. “Everything was going my way, and I found the back of the net. I have to give credit to my teammates and coaching staff for putting me in that position during the game.”

The Chicago Mission program had a successful year in 2022, as Under-17 defenseman Asher Barnett (Wilmette, Ill.) won a championship that year with the Mission, but as a member of the 14U squad.

“It was a pretty surreal experience especially being in my hometown,” Barnett said. “It felt really good to feel what we had been working on the whole year.”

What sticks with Barnett from that title was not a moment on the ice or the celebrations after the game, but the bond he had with his teammates.

“The thing I remember most is the locker room feeling between the second and third period. It was a close game and the feeling of the brotherhood, that feeling that we had something to win that we had been working on the whole year.”

Winning a national title is still a fresh memory for U17 forward Jake Stuart (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), as it came just a year ago when he helped the Los Angeles Jr. Kings 15O win the first national title in that program’s history.

“It was unreal, and honestly, it wasn’t something I was expecting,” Stuart said. “It was one of the best feelings I have ever had to win the championship.”

Before the title game, Stuart’s Kings came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Rhode Island Saints. Overcoming that adversity helped propel the Kings to the championship.

“That game was intense, and it really showed us what we had to do to be successful, Stuart said. “It gave us the confidence we needed in our next two games to win the title.”

While Stuart helped the Kings win their first national title, a handful of the current NTDP roster played, and won a championship together, for the powerhouse Shattuck-St. Mary's program in Minnesota.  John Whipple (Minnetonka, Minn.), Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.), Will Skahan (Woodbury, Minn.), Brodie Ziemer (Hutchinson, Minn.), Kristian Epperson (Mequon, Wis.) and Will Belle (Minnetonka, Minn.) all linked up to win a 14U national title in 2021.

“It was cool,” Whipple said. “We had great bonds at Shattuck and to bring them here is awesome. I have known a bunch of these guys since freshman year so it’s fun to see how our relationships have developed.

“It’s really special especially for us at Shattuck. We work really hard together from August until nationals. It’s reaching that point where you practice with them, wake up early with them and run through the gauntlet with them. We had our eyes on it the whole year. It was cool to make our whole school proud.”