The 2024-2025 season is already in full swing for the National Team Development Program.

The U18 team is guided by second-year head coach Greg Moore (Lisbon, Maine) and is joined on his coaching staff by Chad Kolarik (Abington, Pa.) and Ryan Hayes (Syracuse, N.Y.), both former NTDP players.

Meanwhile, goaltender Joey Slavick (Westland, Mich.) has also seen a difference between the pipes.

“I have noticed how much better my teammates have gotten with them playing in front of me, it has made it easier for me,” he said. “We put in the work this summer and the adjustment from last year to this year, it gives everyone more confidence. Being with the same guys for two years makes our bond even tighter. I can see that on the ice. We are super comfortable and one big family.”

Barnett looks at last year as a learning experience, as the players each got experience playing against UHSL talent for the first time.

Those lessons will come in very handy as the U18s add onto their schedule. In addition to USHL teams, the U18s will play 17 colleges games. The team started its college schedule this past weekend with jousts against Notre Dame and Western Michigan.

“The college schedule is a great part of what we do here,” Moore said. “For these young men, they get to experience the speed, strength and power of the college teams. Their reads have to be faster, and we push them physically and mentally. It makes them have to problem solve and how to compete within those variables. We get through college games and once we are back in the USHL, it just feels slower.”

“It’s very powerful going through that adversity,” Moore said. “We purposely put our players through challenging schedules, scenarios and environments. The U17 year is not only challenging but it’s one of the hardest things the players have ever gone through. You might think the U18 year will get easier, and then here come the college games and we are being thrown into harder environments.”

Moore added he doesn’t want his team to emotionally react to wins or losses and focus on the details they work on constantly. If they can do that, the season will hopefully end with gold medals around their necks.

Meanwhile, the U17s are under the direction of head coach Nick Fohr (Grand Forks, N.D.), who is in his third year as head coach. He will be joined this year by first-year assistant coaches Kevin Porter (Northville, Mich.) and Conor Allen (Chicago, Ill.)

The coaching staff is currently working on the development of the players, who have been in Plymouth for a little over a month. When it comes to measuring their development, he always has to remind himself that it is a work in progress.

“Progress isn’t always forward. We will go forward and then take a step or two back,” Fohr said. “That is a lot of what we have to do in our first year. We have had opportunities to learn from both our successes and our failures. We need to learn how will they react as a group. For me, it’s all about that progress as a group. We need to continue with that and in practice — learn to be consistent and enjoy coming to the rink every day.”

Berchild is coming off a weekend where he registered a goal and an assist in a two-game sweep over the Minnesota Elite League All-Stars. With the series taking place close to his hometown, plenty of family and friends got to see him play in both games.

On top of playing against the MEL, the U17 schedule features NAHL teams, USHL teams and three international events as well.

The coaching staff understands the importance of breaking the schedule down into segments to make it seem manageable for the players, especially when the team has 10 of their first 11 series on the road.

The U17s have started the season 5-3 and won’t play at home until Oct. 18 against the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

“It’s been a month and you can see it in their faces; they are getting tired,” Fohr said. “They are learning what their bodies can do and how to push through. We as coaches read and react on what is in front of us. We have lots to learn and work on, but we can adjust and adapt in practice to get something fresh and new.”

While the season has started positively for the U17s, Fohr knows the USHL schedule will present a new set of challenges for his team.

“We will get a chance to see how quickly they learn,” he said. “We are going to go through some learning curves as we are getting to know each other. The players will learn to understand our expectations as coaches. We get to understand what they are capable of doing and move forward.”

Berchild understands it will be the little things that will make all the difference for the U17s this season.

“We have a great team, and we know we need to focus on getting better every day,” he said. “Each game is an opportunity to improve as a team.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.