Both the U.S. National Under-17 and Under-18 Teams will be in action this week. The U18s begin their college schedule while the U17s play a single United States Hockey League contest.

OFF TO COLLEGE: The U18s open their 2014-15 college schedule with a pair of road games when they travel to Miami University on Saturday before taking a short trek across Ann Arbor to face the University of Michigan on Monday.

“This will be a good test for our squad,” head coach Don Granato said. “Miami and Michigan have talented teams and both rosters feature several former NTDP players. We will need to go out and work hard in order to have success.

“This will be a good week to work on some different areas of our game in practice. We need to tighten up on the defensive end.”

The U18s split a pair of USHL contests over the weekend, topping Youngstown 4-2 on Saturday before falling to Muskegon 6-4 on Sunday.

Luke Kunin (Chesterfield, Mo.), Christian Fischer (Wayne, Ill.), Nicholas Boka (Plymouth, Mich.) and Matthew Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.) scored goals in the win over Youngstown. Goalie Luke Opilka (St. Louis, Mo.) finished with 30 saves.

Kunin had a pair of goals while Fischer and Jeremy Bracco (Freeport, N.Y.) had single tallies in the loss to Muskegon. Michael Lackey (Washington, D.C.) finished with 14 stops in net.

HOME COOKING: The National Team Development Program faces Youngstown again this week, but this time the Phantoms are coming to the Ann Arbor Ice Cube to play the U17s at 7 p.m. ET on Friday.

The U17s are coming off a 5-2 loss to Muskegon in their USHL home opener on Friday. Joey Anderson (Roseville, Minn.) and Keeghan Howdeshell (Brighton, Mich.) provided the goals for the U.S. Jake Oettinger (Lakeville, Minn.) kicked out 38 shots in net.

“I thought the guys did a good job; they completed hard and executed well,” said head coach Danton Cole, whose squad is in search of its first win. “We just need to be more complete and pay attention to details. When we don’t do that, we have a tough time.

“In the first year, it is always a learning process with our team. We need to learn to play all 60 minutes. It’s a difficult lesson to learn.”

NTDP AND THE AAPG: Former NTDP forward Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass./2012-14/Boston University) received Player of the Game honors at the 2014 CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game, which was held last Thursday in Buffalo, New York. Eichel tallied the game-winning goal and added an assist in Team Grier’s 6-3 win over Team Olczyk.

Current NTDP forward Jeremy Bracco scored twice for Team Grier while U18 teammate Brendan Warren (Carleton, Mich.) had one goal for Team Olczyk.

• Tickets for home games played at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube are $7 for adults and $5 for children, seniors and active military members. Youth hockey players wearing their team jerseys are admitted for $1 and group rates are available. Tickets can be purchased at the door or by calling the NTDP at (734) 327-9251.
• Five former NTDP players are on Miami’s roster: Riley Barber (Livonia, Mich./2011-12), Louie Belpedio (Skokie, Ill./2012-14), Austin Czarnik (Washington, Mich./2008-10), Trevor Hamilton (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich./2011-13) and Anthony Louis (Winfield, Ill./2011-13). Czarnik is Miami’s team captain.
• Current U18 forward Jack Roslovic (Columbus, Ohio) has verbally committed to play at Miami.
• Michigan’s roster has six former NTDP members: Evan Allen (Sterling Heights, Mich./2011-13), J.T. Compher (Northbrook, Ill./2011-13), Andrew Copp (Ann Arbor, Mich./2010-12), Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich./2012-14), Tyler Motte (St. Clair, Mich./2011-13) and Zach Werenski (Grosse Pointe, Mich./2013-14). Copp is the Wolverines’ captain and Compher is an assistant captain.
• NTDP forward Brendan Warren and defenseman Nicholas Boka have both verbally committed to Michigan. Five U17 players also have verbal commits to play for the Wolverines.
• Jeremy Bracco (4-8) leads the U18s with 12 points while Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Ariz./2-9) is second with 11 points. Matthew Tkachuk (7-3) is third with 10 points. Rounding out the top-five scorers are Christian Fischer (5-4) and Colin White (Hanover, Mass./4-4) with nine and eight points, respectively.
• In goal for the U18s, Michael Lackey and Luke Opilka have split time. Opilka is 4-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. Lackey is 2-1 with a 4.03 GAA and an .840 save percentage.
• Keeghan Howdeshell (1-1) and Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill./1-1) sit atop the U17 leaderboard with two points each.
• In goal for the U17s, Jake Oettinger and Joseph Woll (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) have split time. Woll is 0-1 with a 1.36 GAA and a .956 save percentage. Oettinger is 0-2 with a 6.00 GAA and an .847 save percentage.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.