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Gameday: U18 Men's National Team Faces Sweden to Open U18 MWC Preliminary Play

By USA Hockey, 04/18/19, 5:00AM EDT

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Watch live on NHL Network, puck drop set for 1:30 p.m. ET

The U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team faces Sweden tonight to open Group B Preliminary play at the 2019 IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship here at Fjallraven Center in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden.

Team USA enters the tournament seeking its eighth gold medal in 10 years. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. local/1:30 p.m. ET and will be televised in the U.S. live on NHL Network. All-time, the U.S. is 12-2-0-3-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) against Sweden and has outscored them 77-37. In preliminary matchups, Team USA is 6-3-0 (W-L-T) against Sweden and has outscored them 39-24. The two teams last met in 2018 for a preliminary game, where the U.S. fell, 3-1. The U.S. enters the 2019 IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship as silver medalists, falling to Finland, 3-2, in last year’s gold-medal game. Sweden enters as bronze medalists after defeating the Czech Republic, 5-2, in last year's bronze-medal game.

2019 IIHF U18 MWC: ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT
The 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Men's World Championship is being held in Ornskoldsvik (A3 Arena) and Umea (Fjallraven Center), Sweden. This will mark the second time Sweden has hosted the tournament, with the previous location being Angelholm/Halmstad (2006) where the U.S. took home gold, defeating Finland 3-1. Unlike this year, the 2006 event saw the U.S. enter the tournament as the defending gold medalist. In the end, Team USA won consecutive gold medals for the first time with Patrick Kane leading the tournament in scoring with 12 points.

THINGS WORTH MENTIONING
The U.S. enters the 2019 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship having won 62 of 81 preliminary-round games and is 62-0-1-17-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) all-time in tournament opening matchups. Team USA has five returning players who captured a silver medal for Team USA at the tournament last year, forwards Cole Caufield (Stevens Point, Wis.), Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.), Alex Turcotte (Island Lake, Ill.), defenseman Cam York (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) and goaltender Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn.). Last year, Hughes earned the Directorate Award as the tournament's top forward. Hughes was also named to the Media All-Star Team and tournament MVP after leading the tournament in scoring with 12 points (5-7-12). Knight won four games in goal last year, while York recorded six assists and was named to the Media All-Star Team. Turcotte scored two goals and five points and Caufield tallied four goals and six points, both in seven games.

JOHN WROBLEWSKI SEEKS SECOND-STRAIGHT MEDAL AS HEAD COACH
John Wroblewski (Neenah, Wis./ USA Hockey’s NTDP), head coach of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 Team, is serving as the U.S. head coach at the IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship for the second time and is looking for his second gold- medal as a head coach. He has previously served as assistant coach twice for Team USA during the championship. At the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Men’s World Championship in Kazan, Russia, he served as the assistant coach, when the U.S. finished 5-0-0-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) with a bronze medal, defeating Sweden 6-3 in the bronze-medal game. Named an assistant coach again during the 2010 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship held in Minsk and Babruysk, Belarus, Wroblewski helped the U.S. to 6-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) and its 5th-gold medal when the U.S. topped Sweden, 3-1 in the gold-medal game. Being named U.S. head coach in 2017, he lead Team USA to a 6-1-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) and its tenth-gold medal at the 2017 IIHF Under-18 World Championship in Poprad, Slovakia, defeating Finland, 4-2 in the gold-medal game. He is joined behind the bench by assistant coaches Dan Hinote (Elk River, Minn. / USA Hockey’s NTDP), Kevin Lind (Homer Glen, Ill. / USA Hockey’s NTDP), Thomas Speer (Janesville, Wis. / USA Hockey’s NTDP) and Jared Nightingale (Jackson, Mich. / USA Hockey’s NTDP). 

HOW WE GOT HERE
The journey towards today's tournament-opening game began on April 11, when the U.S. convened in Vierumaki, Finland, for practice. Team USA then played in two exhibition games, falling to Finland, 1-0, and topping Switzerland, 8-0, on April 12 & 13. On April 15, the team departed for Ornskoldsvik, Sweden via ferry, where they will remain for the rest of the tournament.

2019 U.S. Tournament Schedule

All games at Fjallraven Center

DATE OPPONENT/ROUND LOCATION TIME (LOCAL/ET)/RESULT TELEVISION U.S. Player of the Game
Fri., April 12 Finland
Exhibition
Heinola, Finland L, 0-1 None Cam York
Sat., April 13 Switzerland
Exhibition
Heinola, Finland W, 8-0 None Jack Hughes
Thu., April 18 Sweden
Preliminary
Fjallraven Center
Ornskoldsvik, Sweden
W, 6-1 NHL Network Cole Caufield
Fri., April 19 Slovakia
Preliminary
Fjallraven Center
Ornskoldsvik, Sweden
W, 12-5 NHL Network Jack Hughes
Sun., April 21 Russia
Preliminary
Fjallraven Center
Ornskoldsvik, Sweden
W, 6-3 NHL Network Alex Turcotte
Tue., April 23 Latvia
Preliminary
Fjallraven Center
Ornskoldsvik, Sweden
W, 7-1 NHL Network John Beecher
Thu., April 25 Finland
Quarterfinals
Fjallraven Center
Ornskoldsvik, Sweden
W, 6-0 NHL Network Jack Hughes
Sat., April 27 Russia
Semifinals
Fjallraven Center
Ornskoldsvik, Sweden
L, 2-3 (SO) NHL Network Cole Caufield
Sun., April 28 Canada
Bronze-Medal Game
Fjallraven Center
Ornskoldsvik, Sweden
W 5-2 NHL Network Cam York

U.S. Roster

Tournament Homepage


2019 U.S. U18 World Championship News