DECEMBER 17: DAY 3
The U.S. National Junior Team hit the ice early today for Day 3 of its time in Columbus. After its skate from 8:30-9:45am, the team took part in an intrasquad scrimmage from 4:15-5:15pm at the OhioHealth Ice Haus. After the scrimmage, head coach Bob Motzko announced that Joey Anderson (Roseville, Minn./Univ. of Minnesota Duluth) will serve as captain of the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team.
ANDERSON NAMED CAPTAIN
A member of last year's gold medal-winning U.S. National Junior Team in Montreal and Toronto, Canada, Anderson was an alternate captain for the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team that claimed a bronze medal at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Men's World Championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota. To watch the video, click here.
CHANCE TO COMPETE
Tonight’s instrasquad scrimmage was a true chance for the players to get into a competitive game opportunity and impress head coach Bob Motzko and his staff.
“We’re going to let them play and see what they can do,” Coach Motzko said ahead of the scrimmage. “They’ve had a few days to get a sense of what our staff wants, so now we’re going to take the reins off a little bit. I think they’re looking forward to it and I know we are, too, as a staff.”
POTULNY ARRIVES
Grant Potunly (Grand Forks, N.D./Northern Michigan Univ.), who is serving as an assistant coach on the U.S. National Junior Team for the third time, arrives today after leading his Northern Michigan Wildcats men’s ice hockey team to a weekend sweep over WCHA foe Ferris State University. A member of two gold medal-winning U.S. National Junior Team staffs (2013, 2017), Potulny is in his first season as head coach after serving the past eight seasons as an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota.
At Minnesota, he helped the Golden Gophers capture six regular-season conference titles and appear in one NCAA national championship game. As a player, Potulny captained the Gophers for three seasons and helped the team claim two national championships (2002, 2003).
