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U18 Special Feature - Enjoying the Ride, U18s Share Travel Stories

By Karly Fisher, 04/18/14, 5:30AM EDT

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The U.S. National Under-18 Team is no stranger to long road trips. This season, the U18 squad has not only traveled to 20 different arenas around the country, competing against United States Hockey League opponents, along with NCAA Division I and III schools, but also trekked overseas to face off against international opponents in the Four Nations Tournament in Turku, Finland and the Five Nations Tournament in Dmitrov, Russia.  

After hundreds of hours in the weight room and on the ice, and nearly two seasons with the National Team Development Program complete, all roads have led the U18s over 4,000 miles from home to the International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s Under-18 World Championship in Lappeenranta, Finland. 

The U18s arrived in Finland last Thursday (April 10) after 18 hours of travel by both plane and bus. In its only pre-tournament game, the Under-18 Team kicked off its final international tournament in impressive fashion, routing Germany, 9-1, on Monday. 

With their time at the NTDP winding down, the players took time to reflect on their favorite road trip memories, bonding experiences and how they passed all that time while traveling. 

“The trip I remember most is when we traveled from Utica College to RPI [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute] earlier this year,” said forward Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.). “Because of the blizzard, our bus got stuck and we saw about four accidents along the highway. The snow and ice were so bad that we couldn't get up the hill to RPI, so all the guys had to pile in the back to gain more traction and weigh it down."

While most players agreed with Eichel, forwards Joe Wegwerth (Brewster, N.Y.) and Anders Bjork (Mequon, Wis.) shared other unforgettable experiences.

“My favorite road trip memory may have to be having Kyle Lawson with us on our trip to Russia in February. He's a former player at the NTDP and he had his own unique way of running study hall,” Wegwerth said while laughing.

“Definitely the snowball fight in Switzerland," Bjork said with a huge smile. "For whatever reason we got into a friendly battle with some kids at the prep school there.”

Who won?

“Oh, we did,” said a beaming Bjork.

During the tough road trips, the players must find unique ways to pass the time while staying in hotels and traveling long hours on planes and buses. 

“We like to play a game called ‘Heads Up!’ while we're on the road in hotels,” said defenseman Ryan Collins (Bloomington, Minn). “You take your iPhone and put it on your head and there is a word you have to act out on the screen. It's basically charades.”

Although defenseman Jack Glover (Golden Valley, Minn.) revealed that forward Alex Tuch (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) is skilled at acting and goaltender Edwin Minney (Wind Gap, Pa.) self-proclaimed to be the best-all around ‘Heads Up!’ player, it was defenseman Nathan Billitier (Spencerport, N.Y.) who claimed the most votes as ‘Heads Up!’ champion from his teammates.

Along with the entertaining games, players also like to spend their time watching movies and listening to music.

"I usually spend most of my time in hotels on the road watching Netflix,” said forward Shane Gersich (Chaska, Minn.). “Right now, [Ryan] Hitchcock and I are starting to watch Friends."

"I like to watch movies on long flights,” Minney said. “I knocked out three movies on our way here to Finland: Delivery Man, Pitch Perfect and Cars. I love Cars." 

Added Glover: “I can't sleep on planes so most of the time I end up watching movies, We're the Millers on the latest flight, or listening to my country music."

With the U18s opening tournament play in the preliminary round on April 17, the next weeks in Finland are the last time the team will all be together to make memories as teammates. 

Players have spent most of their free time playing basketball, ping-pong and badminton at a sports dome recreational area, as well as enjoying the training facilities in Vierumaki. The highlight of their trip thus far, though, was jumping into a frozen lake after the team visited a smoke sauna. They followed that up by having a traditional Finnish meal by candlelight. 

Although the players enjoy the off-ice fun, no memory could top the ultimate moment of winning a gold medal to cap off their two years in the program.

"A gold medal would be the icing on the cake", said Jared Fiegl (Parker, Colo.). "We've worked hard as a core group for two years and this has been our ultimate goal. It would be unreal. I can't even describe it."

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