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The U.S. National Under-17 and Under-18 Teams are playing in their first international tournaments of the season this week. The U18s are in Sweden for the Four Nations Tournament while the U17s continue play at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Ontario.
UNDER-18 FOUR NATIONS: The Four Nations Tournament begins on Wednesday in Sweden. In addition to Team USA, the event features Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.
The U18s open the tournament against Finland on Friday before playing Switzerland on Saturday and Sweden on Sunday. Team USA skates in a pre-tournament contest on Wednesday versus Sweden in Kovland.
“This is a good measuring stick to see where we are at as a team,” head coach Don Granato said. “We are looking to play our game, compete as a team and let the results take care of itself. Our goal is to get better with each game.”
Before heading to Sweden, the U18s posted a 4-1 win on the road at Muskegon on Oct. 28. Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Ariz.) registered two goals and one assist to pace the offense. Matthew Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.) and Tage Thompson (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) also scored. Goalie Michael Lackey (Washington, D.C.) stopped 24 of 25 shots to earn the win.
WORLD U17 CHALLENGE: Fresh off a 6-3 tournament-opening win against Sweden on Sunday, the U17s close out preliminary-round play at the World Under-17 Challenge against Slovakia on Monday and Canada Red on Tuesday. The tournament in Sarnia, Ontario, moves into the quarterfinals on Thursday, followed by the semifinals Friday and the medal round Saturday.
Trent Frederic (St. Louis, Mo.), Nick Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla.), Keeghan Howdeshell (Brighton, Mich.), Max Jones (Rochester, Mich.), Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill.) and Patrick Khodorenko (Walnut Creek, Calif.), scored the goals in the victory. Joseph Woll (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) earned the start in net, stopping 21 of 24 shots.
Team USA also won its tune-up match 6-0 over Canada White on Friday. Jake Oettinger (Lakeville, Minn.) and Woll combined for the shutout with a combined 23 stops. Keller, William Lockwood (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Khodorenko, Howdeshell, Jones and Adam Fox (Jericho, N.Y.) scored.
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.