It’s a busy week for both the U.S. National Under-17 and Under-18 Teams. The U17s host a two-game United States Hockey League series while the U18s have two USHL road games. Team USA is a combined 18-19-4-1 (W-L-OTL-SOL) in USHL play this season.
HOME STAND CONTINUES: The U17s finish their 12-game home stand by hosting the USHL Eastern Conference-leading Cedar Rapids RoughRiders on Friday and Saturday. Face-off is set for 7 p.m. both nights.
The U17s split a pair of games last week, falling 1-0 in overtime to Bloomington on Thursday before rebounding with a 6-2 win over Omaha on Sunday. The victory marked their first USHL win since Jan. 15.
Goalie Adam Scheel (Lakewood, Ohio) stopped 27 of 28 shots against Bloomington.
Grant Mismash (Edina, Minn.) scored a pair of goals against Omaha while goalie Dylan St. Cyr (Northville, Mich.) stopped 29-of-31 shots. Graham Slaggert (South Bend, Ind.), Sean Dhooghe (Aurora, Ill.), Jacob Tortora (Victor, N.Y.) and Scott Reedy (Prior Lake, Minn.) also scored.
“I was really proud of our team’s effort this week,” U17 coach Don Granato said. “It was great to pick up three points this week, and I was happy for our players to earn a hard-fought win on Sunday afternoon.”
ROAD TRIP: The U18s are back on the road for two games against the Bloomington Thunder, with puck drop scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on both Friday and Saturday.
The U18s swept a two-game set at Arizona State University over the weekend, winning 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday and 5-2 on Sunday.
Kieffer Bellows (Edina, Minn.) and Patrick Khodorenko (Walnut Creek, Calif.) tallied the goals in regulation while goalie Joseph Woll (St. Louis, Mo.) finished with 22 saves in game one. Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill.) scored the only goal in the three-round shootout.
Bellows notched two goals while Luke Martin (St. Louis, Mo.), Adam Fox (Jericho, N.Y.) and J.D. Greenway (Potsdam, N.Y.) potted single tallies in the second game. Goalie Jake Oettinger (Lakeville, Minn.) earned the win for Team USA.
Upcoming Games
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Notebook
- Columbus Blue Jackets’ captain Nick Foligno (Hummelstown, Pa./2003-04) recorded his second career NHL hat trick in a win over the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 25. He also added an assist for a career-high four points.
- Columbus’ Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa./2009-10) has scored 24 goals in 62 games this season, which is a new career-high for him. His previous best was 23 goals in 2014-15, when he was with the Chicago Blackhawks.
- University of Denver defenseman Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wis./2011-13) was named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Defenseman of the Week for the week of Feb. 15-21. Butcher recorded four assists in a road-and-home sweep of Colorado College.
- Boston College goaltender Thatcher Demko (San Diego, Calif./2012-13) is one of 26 finalists for the 2016 Mike Richter Award as the nation’s top goaltender. Demko was also a nominee in 2014 and 2015. Demko leads the nation with nine shutouts and is tied for second in wins (23) and save percentage (.939).
- The U17s carry a 17-23-7 (W-L-OTL) overall record into this week.
- The U17s are paced by Scott Reedy (19-31), who has 50 points in 47 games. Grant Mismash (20-20) is second with 40 points, while Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa./14-23) is third with 37 points. Jacob Tortora (15-15) is fourth with 30 points. Sean Dhooghe (20-9) rounds out the top five with 29 points.
- Dylan St. Cyr and Adam Scheel split time in goal for the U17s. St. Cyr is 12-12-3 with a 3.42 goals-against average and an .882 save percentage. Scheel is 5-11-4 with a 4.49 GAA and an .879 save percentage.
- The U18s carry a 34-9-4-1 (W-L-OTL-T) mark into this weekend’s series.
- Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill./28-52) continues to pace the U18s with 80 points, while Kieffer Bellows (37-24) ranks second with 61 points. Adam Fox (7-37) is third with 44 points. Rounding out the top five are Joey Anderson (Roseville, Minn./18-21) and Trent Frederic (St. Louis, Mo./15-14) with 39 and 29 points, respectively.
- Goalies Jake Oettinger and Joseph Woll split time for the U18 squad. Oettinger is 19-6-1-0 with a 2.58 GAA and a .903 save percentage. Woll is 15-3-3-1 with a 2.15 GAA and a .919 save percentage.
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Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.