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Notebook (April 13) - USA Opens U18s with Rematch Against Russia

By Becky Olsen, 04/13/15, 7:00PM EDT

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Russia Beat Team USA in February’s Five Nations Tournament.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team concludes its two-year campaign at the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 World Championship, which run April 16-26 in Lucerne and Zug, Switzerland.

“We have done a lot of work, and we hope that it works out the way we want it to,” said head coach Don Granato, who will be behind the bench for his second U18 World Championship. “We want our guys to play hard and have a little fun. It’s a great experience, and the guys are ready to play and enjoy the moment.”

The U18s have a final tune up on Monday against Finland in Lucerne. Team USA opens play on Thursday against Russia followed by a Friday contest against Slovakia. The squad closes out round-robin play against Sweden on Sunday and Germany on April 21. Quarterfinal action begins on April 23.

The squad opened exhibition play with an 8-3 win over Germany on Saturday. Casey Fitzgerald (North Reading, Mass.) and Luke Kunin (Chesterfield, Mo.) each tallied a pair of goals in the win. Matthew Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.), Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Christian Fischer (Wayne, Ill.) and Troy Terry (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) posted single tallies. In net, Luke Opilka (St. Louis, Mo.) and Evan Sarthou (Black Diamond, Wash.) combined to make 19 stops.

UNDER-17 TEAM SEASON WRAP UP: The U17s closed out the season by dropping a home-and-home series with Youngstown, 3-1, on Friday and 7-1 on Saturday. Patrick Khodorenko (Walnut Creek, Calif.) registered the lone goal on Friday while Corbin Kaczperski (China Township, Mich.) made 28 saves. Khodorenko again scored on Saturday while Kaczperski had 27 saves.

Under-18 World Championship Notes

This year’s tournament features the top 10 nations in the world in a round-robin event with two brackets. Team USA is in Group A along with Germany, Russia, Slovakia and Sweden. Group B has Canada, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Finland and Switzerland.

After a single round-robin series in each group, 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 top four placed teams from the preliminary groups will play a crossover quarterfinal game (1A vs. 4B, 1B vs. 4A, 2A vs. 3B, and 2B vs. 3A) on Thursday April 23. The winner of each quarterfinal moves onto the semifinals on Saturday, April 25. The bronze-medal and gold-medal contests are set for Sunday, April 26. Meanwhile, the teams placed fifth in each group will play a best-of-three series to avoid relegation.

  • Team USA has captured 12 medals at the U18 World Championship, the most of any country. The U18s have eight goals medals (2002, 2005-06, 2009-12, 2014), three silvers (2004, 2007, 2013) and one bronze (2008).

  • Team USA has won 11 straight medals in the event and has played in the gold-medal game in six straight tournaments.

  • Twenty-two players on the U.S. roster come from USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. Goaltender Evan Sarthou is the lone newcomer. He skated for the Western Hockey League's Tri-City Americans this winter.

  • Team USA's roster includes 20 players born in 1997 and three from the 1998 birth year. Defenseman Steven Ruggiero (Jan. 1, 1997) is the oldest player on Team USA, while goaltender Jake Oettinger, born Dec. 18, 1998, is the youngest.

Notebook

  • Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass./2012-14/Boston University) became the fifth former NTDP player to capture the Hobey Baker Memorial Award joining Jordan Leopold (Golden Valley, Minn./1997-98/Minnesota) - 2002, Matt Carle (Anchorage, Alaska/2000-02/Denver) - 2006, Kevin Porter (Detroit, Mich./2002-04/Michigan) - 2008, Blake Geoffrion (Brentwood, Tenn./2004-06/Wisconsin) - 2010.
    Eichel became only the second freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award, joining Paul Kariya (Maine) in 1993. Eichel led the nation with 71 points (26-45) in just 40 contests.

  • Forwards Sean Dhooghe (Aurora, Ill.), Grant Mismash (Edina, Minn.), Michael Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla.), Scott Reedy (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.), along with defensemen David Farrance (Victor, N.Y.), Max Gildon (Plano, Texas), Quinn Hughes (Orlando, Fla.), Nate Knoepke (Farmington, Minn.) and Josh Maniscalco (Perkiomenville, Pa.) will join the NTDP for the 2015-16 season. The players, all from the 1999 birth year, will compete as members of the U17 squad.

  • Team USA combined for a 25-32-3 (W-L-OTL) mark in United States Hockey League play this season.

  • The U17s closed out the season with a 19-34-2 mark.

  • Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill./25-34) led the U17s in with 59 points. Joey Anderson (Roseville, Minn./21-21) ranked second with 42 points, while Patrick Khodorenko (13-20) placed third with 33 points. Rounding out the top five were Nick Pastujov (Bradenton, Fla./13-17--30) and Chad Krys (Ridgefield, Conn./3-26--29).

  • Heading into this week’s action, the U18s are paced in by Auston Matthews (45-52) with 97 points, while Matthew Tkachuk (35-47) is second with 82 points. Jeremy Bracco (Freeport, N.Y./26-52) is third with 78 points. Rounding out the top five are Jack Roslovic (Columbus, Ohio/21-47--68) and Christian Fischer (29-26--55).

  • In goal for the U18s, Joseph Woll (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) and Jake Oettinger share duties. Woll is 9-18 with a 3.48 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage, while Oettinger is 10-13-2 with a 2.57 GAA and a .916 save percentage.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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