Instead, the American forward turned a stumble into a dive with his stick to bank it off the boards and help his team maintain possession. 

After regaining his feet — and the puck — Plante slotted home a wrist shot to give Team USA the sudden-death victory in Super Overtime on Nov. 27, clinching the two-game series against the CHL after the teams had split the two games in Western Canada. 

“It was basically USA’s best versus Canada’s best, so we felt a lot of pride on the line and felt we had to win those games,” Plante said. “We went in nervous, didn’t really know what to expect, not a lot of pre-scout on that [CHL] team, but we went and played fast and energetic, and that came through for us in the end.”

Plante has been a key driver of that energy all season for the National Team Development Program’s Under-18 Team. Heading into this weekend, Plante leads the team with 29 points (16 goals, 13 assists) in 31 games.

A skilled forward that brings both tenacity and smart routes, Plante really turned up his game in November, starting with six points in four games at the U18 Five Nations Tournament. The month concluded with his success at the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge. Sprinkled in between, Plante has five points in his past four games against USHL competition, helping the U18 team win three of those four games. 

“I think we’re playing with more confidence, and it really showed in that CHL Challenge,” Plante said. “We had a rough start to the season, we understood that, and I think we really grew together and found ways to build each other up. It’s all coming together now and it’s exciting.”

A native of Hermantown, Minnesota, Plante is part of a trio of brothers that could be known as one of the country’s next great hockey families. His two older brothers, Zam and Max Plante, are NHL draft picks of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings, respectively, and have been dominating NCAA competition this season at Minnesota-Duluth, where Victor is also committed. 

The brothers were originally planning on spending some time together around the holidays, but hockey got in the way. Max played for Team USA at the World Junior Championship while Zam was selected for the U.S. Collegiate Selects team, which took place in Davos, Switzerland, in the Spengler Cup. 

“I got to see them for a day,” Plante said. “It’s busy, hockey has given us some great opportunities, so I watched them from afar because I was back here in [Plymouth] for Christmas.”

While he didn’t get much time with his brothers this holiday season, Plante does rely on them when it comes to navigating his draft-eligible season. He’s picked both of their brains about handling the pressures of preparing for the NHL draft and the extra attention of NHL scouts.