December 28, 2008

OTTAWA, Can. - Two days removed from a 8-2 victory over Germany doesn't have Team USA over confident as they meet Czech Republic tonight at 7:38 p.m. EST. Instead, the U.S. squad maintains its focus is the steady improvement it began in training camp.

U.S. National Junior Team head coach Ron Rolston said that the big opening victory over Germany was a confidence builder, but also gave the team several things to work on during its two practices between the victory and tonight's matchup.

"Even though we won 8-2 there are a lot of things we have to do better to be a championship hockey team," Rolston said.

One area that the U.S. has identified as an area for improvement is communication in the defensive zone. After the Germany victory, goaltender Thomas McCollum said there was a disconnect with his defensemen.

"When I played the puck (to the defense) we were a little discombobulated at times," he said.

Rolston dedicated special work in practice to help his young netminder get more in tune with his defensemen.

"We've got (meetings) and we're going to spend some time in practice with some split work so we can get that down," Rolston said. "We understand a lot of teams are going to use similar forechecks and we have to be sure we're moving the puck to the right areas.

"Part of that is making sure Thomas is comfortable with his defense and how they're talking to him and where they are on the ice," Rolston continued, "so we can put the pucks in areas where we can get out of the zone and also where it isn't dangerous."