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Under-17 Team Plays First Regular Season Home Game

By usahockeyntdp.com, 09/22/16, 9:30AM EDT

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The Under-17 Team will play their first USHL regular season game of their National Team Development Program careers when they return to the confines of USA Hockey Arena to face a familiar foe in the Muskegon Lumberjacks on Friday evening at 7 p.m. 

NTDP Notebook Team USA

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The Under-17 Team will play its first United States Hockey League regular season game when they return to the confines of USA Hockey Arena to face a familiar foe in the Muskegon Lumberjacks at 7 p.m. ET on Friday (Sept. 23).

Two weeks ago, Team USA played two preseason games against the Lumberjacks in a home-and-home series. While they eventually fell in both matchups (6-3 on Friday, Sept. 9, at USA Hockey Arena and 4-1 on Saturday, Sept. 10 at L.C. Walker Arena) their experience in those two games catapulted them to a weekend sweep of the North American Hockey League's Johnstown Tomahawks last weekend. 

Muskegon ended their preseason at the USHL Fall Classic East last weekend, going 2-1 earning victories over Red Bull Salzburg and the Bloomington Thunder.

Following the preseason games, Muskegon made several moves before the final regular season roster deadline. The Lumberjacks swapped players with Des Moines, bringing in 6-foot-8 forward Keenan Suthers, who previously played for the NTDP (2014-16).

They also traded a future draft pick for Garrett VanWhye.

Returning from last season's roster are defensemen Bo Hanson, Derek Daschke, and Zach Berzolla; as well as forwards Anthony Del Gaizo, Collin Adams, Logan Drevitch and Bobby Kaiser.

The NTDP U17 Team looks to take their experience from last weekend and pick up their first regular season USHL win Friday night.

Notebook

U17s COMPLETE THE PRESEASON ON HIGH NOTE: Last weekend, the U17s finished the preseason with a pair of victories against the North American Hockey League’s Johnstown Tomahawks. The games were played at RMU Island Sports Center in Moon Township, Pennsylvania.

The U17s finished the preseason 2-2-0-0.

On Saturday, Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich.) and Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.) scored two goals each in a 5-1 win against the Tomahawks. Jake Goldowski (Thornhurst, Pa.) scored the other goal for the U17s, his second of the preseason. Erik Middendorf  (Scottsdale, Ariz.) recorded three assists in the victory, while goaltender Keegan Karki (Sartell, Minn.) stopped 29-of-30 shots to backstop the win.

Sunday, Gruden and Wahlstrom continued high production in a 5-2 win against Johnstown. Gruden recorded his first hat trick of the year in the game and had five goals during the weekend. Wahlstrom scored two goals for the second straight game and had four goals in the weekend. Right wing Patrick Giles (Chevy Chase, Md.) added a pair of assists, and goaltender Ryan Ullan (Hibbing, Minn.) stopped 30 of 32 shots in the win.

NTDP IN THE WORLD CUP: 15 NTDP alumni are playing in the 2016 World Cup, currently ongoing in Toronto.

Patrick Kane (2004-06), Ryan Kesler (2000-02), Kyle Palmieri (2007-09), James van Riemsdyk (2005-07), Erik Johnson (2004-06), Jack Johnson (2003-05), and Ryan Suter (2001-03) suited up for Team USA.

Jack Eichel (2012-14), Dylan Larkin (2012-14), Auston Matthews (2013-15), J.T. Miller (2009-11), Brandon Saad (2009-10), Seth Jones (2010-12), Jacob Trouba (2010-12) and John Gibson (2009-11) are playing as part of the Team North America, which is comprised of players under the age of 23 from the U.S. and Canada. 

2016 NHL PROSPECTS TOURNAMENT: Five NTDP alums played in the 2016 NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan, including Josh Wesley (Carolina; 2012-13), Tyler Motte (Chicago; (2011-13), Sonny Milano (Columbus; 2012-14), Zach Werenski (Columbus; 2013-14) and Alex Tuch (Minnesota; 2012-14). Click here for 2016 NHL Prospects Tournament data.

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