It’s a busy week for USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. The U.S. National Under-18 Team plays a single home game before heading out for its first international tournament. Meanwhile, the U17s travel to British Columbia for the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
BACK TO ACTION: Following a bye week, the U18s return to action against the Chicago Steel this Friday at USA Hockey Arena. The squad has been off since posting back-to-back wins over Boston University (7-4 on Oct. 16) and Dartmouth (5-4 on Oct. 17). Next week Team USA heads to Switzerland for the Five Nations Tournament.
“This was a good week for our team,” U18 coach Danton Cole said. “We were able to put time in the weight room and get ready for one game before we head out to our first international tournament.”
READY FOR THE CHALLENGE: The U17s begin their international schedule at the 2015 World Under-17 Challenge in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, British Columbia. The tournament features eight teams split into two groups. Team USA is in Group A with Canada Black, Canada White and the Czech Republic. Group B features Canada Red, Finland, Russia and Sweden.
The U17s play an exhibition game against Canada Red at 9 p.m. Friday. The squad opens tournament action on Sunday against the Czech Republic before playing Canada White on Nov. 2 and Canada Black on Nov. 3. The quarterfinals begin on Nov. 5.
“This will be a good measuring stick for our team,” U17 coach Don Granato said. “The U17 Challenge is a good event. It is always a tough run for our team but it will be good for us.
“Preparation will be key for the World Challenge. We need to keep working on the positive things and be prepared for each game. We want to continue to improve with each contest.”
The U17s dropped a pair of one-goal games to Lincoln over the weekend, falling 3-2 on Friday and 5-4 in overtime on Saturday.
Jacob Tortora (Victory, N.Y.) and Grant Mismash (Edina, Minn.) registered the goals on Friday while goalie Dylan St. Cyr (Northville, Mich.) stopped 33 shots. The next night, Scott Reedy (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) each tallied two goals while goalie Adam Scheel (Lakewood, Ohio) finished with 28 stops.
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Notebook
- Team USA has captured top honors at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge four times (2001, 2002, 2010, 2014) and has finished second on six occasions (1999, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014).
- This marks the third time that Don Granato has taken the U17s to the World Challenge. He led the team to a second-place finish in 2012 and a win in 2014.
- Former NTDP and current Miami University forward Jack Roslovic (Columbus, Ohio/2013-15) was selected National College Hockey Conference Rookie of the Week for the week of Oct. 12-18. Roslovic tallied two goals and three points in Miami’s two-game sweep of Ohio State (Oct. 16-17).
- The U18s carry a 7-3-1 (W-L-T) mark into this week.
- Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill./6-14) leads the U18s with 20 points. Kieffer Bellows (Edina, Minn./11-5) is second with 16 points, while Adam Fox (Jericho, N.Y./1-9) is third with 10 points. Will Lockwood (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./4-4) and Chad Krys (Ridgefield, Conn./1-7) are tied for fourth with eight points each. Trent Frederic (St. Louis, Mo./6-1) is sixth with seven points.
- In goal for the U18s, Jake Oettinger (Lakeville, Minn.) is 5-3 with a 2.88 goals-against average and an .887 save percentage. Joseph Woll (St. Louis, Mo.) is 2-0-1 with a 2.23 GAA and a .911 save percentage.
- The U17s bring a 4-5-3 (W-L-OTL) record into this week’s games.
- Heading into the World U17 Challenge, Evan Barratt (6-5) paces the U17s with 11 points. Scott Reedy (2-7) is second with nine points. Logan Hutsko (North Caldwell, N.J./1-6) sits just behind in third place with eight points. There is a two-way tie for fourth place with seven points between Josh Norris (Oxford, Mich./5-2) and Michael Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla./5-2).
- In goal for the U17s, Dylan St. Cyr and Adam Scheel split time. St. Cyr is 1-4-1 with a 4.47 GAA and an .853 save percentage. Scheel is 3-1-2 with a 3.39 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.