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Team USA Kicks Off U18 World Championship on Thursday

By Becky Olsen, 04/12/16, 8:00AM EDT

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U18s Face Latvia, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland in Prelim Round

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Players from the U.S. National Under-18 Team, part of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, recently concluded two years of practice and competition and now select members from that team will compete in the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Men’s World Championship, which runs April 14-24 in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

READY TO GO: The U18s open world championship play against Russia on Thursday before playing Sweden on Saturday. Team USA then plays Latvia on Sunday and closes out the preliminary round against Switzerland next Tuesday. A quarterfinal and semifinal round next week lead to the medal games on April 24.

“I think it is a benefit that I have been here before,” said U18 coach Danton Cole, who guided Team USA to wins in the 2012 and 2014 tournaments. “It’s something that keeps driving me and driving the players to get better and do the right things.

“It’s great to be able to play on U.S. soil. This is a slightly under-appreciated tournament. I believe the fans will come out and see good games and realize how great this tournament is. Most of the players are eligible to be drafted this June, and it’s a chance to watch the future of hockey.”

The U18s posted back-to-back wins in pre-tournament exhibitions.

Goalies Joseph Woll (St. Louis, Mo.) and Jake Oettinger (Lakeville, Minn.) split time in a 6-1 win over Finland on Friday. Kieffer Bellows (Edina, Minn.) paced the offense with four goals while Will Lockwood (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and Logan Brown (Raleigh, N.C.) added single tallies.

On Sunday, Team USA beat Denmark 5-1 thanks in part to two Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill.) goals. Bellows, Keeghan Howdeshell (Brighton, Mich.) and Nick Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla.) had single tallies, as Woll and Oettinger again split time between the pipes.

FINAL WEEKEND: The U.S. National Under-17 Team closed out the season with home-and-away losses against the Youngstown Phantoms over the weekend.

Goalies Adam Scheel (Lakewood, Ohio) and Dylan St. Cyr (Northville, Mich.) combined to make 20 stops in a 12-0 loss on Friday. The next night, Logan Hutsko (North Caldwell, N.J.) recorded a hat trick and Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) also scored, as the U17s earned a point in a 5-4 overtime loss to Youngstown. St. Cyr and Scheel stopped 31 shots.

Upcoming Games

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U18 World Championship Notes

  • This year’s U18 World Championship features the top 10 nations in the world in a round-robin event with two brackets. Team USA is in Group A along with Latvia, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland and will play at Ralph Englestad Arena. Group B has Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and Slovakia and plays in Purpur Arena.
  • After a single round-robin series, the top four teams from each group advance to the playoff round while the fifth-place team in each group moves to the relegation round. The playoff round consists of crossover quarterfinals on April 21, followed by semifinals on April 23 and the April 24 medal round.
  • Team USA has captured 13 medals at the U18 World Championship, the most of any country. The U18s have nine goals medals (2002, 2005-06, 2009-12, 2014-15), three silvers (2004, 2007, 2013) and one bronze (2008).
  • Team USA has won 12 straight medals in the event and has played in the gold-medal game for seven consecutive years.

Notebook

  • John Hynes (Warwick, R.I./2003-09), former NTDP coach and current coach of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, has been named coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team that will compete at the 2016 IIHF Men’s World Championship from May 6-22 in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia.

  • Calgary Flames defenseman Patrick Sieloff (Ann Arbor, Mich./2010-12) made his NHL debut on Saturday and tallied the game-winning goal.

  • Devils defenseman Steve Santini (Mahopac, N.Y./2011-13) also made his NHL debut on Saturday. He played 14:35 and finished with two blocks.

  • Florida Panthers forward Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif./2009-11) registered the first multi-goal game of his NHL career on April 4.

  • Columbus Blue Jackets forward Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa./2009-10) reached the 30-goal milestone for the first time in his four NHL seasons.

  • Boston Bruins defenseman John-Michael Liles (Zionsville, Ind./1997-99) played in his 800th career game on Saturday.

  • University of Michigan forward Tyler Motte (St. Clair, Mich./2011-13) recently signed a professional contract and will join the Chicago Blackhawks after putting up a career-best 56 points (32-24) in 38 games.

  • Boston College’s Thatcher Demko (San Diego, Calif./2012-13) won the Mike Richter Award as Division I men’s college hockey’s most outstanding goaltender. Demko posted a 27-8-4 (W-L-T) record along with a 1.88 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage. He also had 10 shutouts to tie for second for the single-season shutout record.

  • Five former NTDP players were named to the 2015-16 college All-America team. On the First Team was Boston University defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (Charlestown, Mass./2010-12) for the East and Michigan defenseman Zach Werenski (Grosse Pointe, Mich./2013-14) and forward Tyler Motte for the West. Highlighting the Second Team are Thatcher Demko on the East and University of Denver defenseman Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wis./2011-13) and Michigan forward J.T. Compher (Northbrook, Ill./2011-13) on the West.

  • The U17s closed out the season with an 18-31-9 (W-L-OTL) record.

  • Scott Reedy (Prior Lake, Minn./19-33) led the U17s with 52 points, while Grant Mismash (Edina, Minn./23-21) was second with 44. Evan Barratt (15-25) was third with 40 points. Jacob Tortora (Victor, N.Y./15-16) and Sean Dhooghe (Aurora, Ill./20-10) ranked fourth and fifth with 31 and 30 points, respectively.

  • U17 goalies Dylan St. Cyr and Adam Scheel split time. St. Cyr finished with 13-16-5 (W-L-OTL) with a 3.31 GAA and an .886 save percentage. Scheel is 5-15-4 with a 4.64 GAA and an .868 save percentage.