USHL U.S. National Team

U.S. Tops Finland, 6-3, at National Junior Evaluation Camp

Published on August 4, 2010 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- For the second consecutive game, Team USA jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to a 6-3 win over Finland here at the 2010 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp.

The contest featured 22 of the 28 U.S. players currently participating in the camp and auditioning for a spot on the U.S. National Junior Team that will take part in the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2010-Jan. 5, 2011, in Buffalo, N.Y.

"I thought we displayed a lot more synergy tonight," said Keith Allain, head coach of the 2011 U.S. National Junior Team. "Once again, we jumped out to a quick lead, which is something we definitely want to carry into Buffalo."

The U.S. took an early 1-0 lead with a power-play goal less than three minutes into the game. Jeremy Morin (Auburn, N.Y.) collected a feed from Adam Clendening (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) and snapped a shot over the blocker of Jonathan Iilahti from above the left circle.

Midway through the first period, Team USA grabbed a two-goal advantage when Nick Bjugstad (Blaine, Minn.) buried a rebound opportunity off of a shot by Justin Faulk (South St. Paul, Minn.). Chris Brown (Flower Mound, Texas) made the score 3-0 heading into the first intermission when he intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, chipped the puck over a defenseman and lifted a shot past Iilahti's glove.

Less than five minutes into the second period, Brock Nelson (Minneapolis, Minn.) gave the U.S. a 4-0 lead with a tap-in power-play goal from the crease. Then, following a Finland goal by Julius Junttila, Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass.) redirected a floating wrist shot by Derek Forbort (Duluth, Minn.) between Iilahti's pads to restore Team USA's four-goal edge.

Finland cut the U.S. lead to three again while on the two-man advantage. But Bjugstad notched his second of the game from the right side of the net with less than 10 seconds remaining in the period to give Team USA a 6-2 lead after two.

Finland scored the lone goal of the third period, but could not mount a comeback. U.S. goalie Andy Iles (Ithaca, N.Y.) made 18 saves in the win, while Iilahti turned aside 20 shots in a losing effort.

The U.S. will return to action Friday (Aug. 6) at 4 p.m. EDT against Sweden.

NOTES: Team USA went 2-for-4 on the power-play, while Finland was 2-for-6 with the man advantage ... Nick Bjugstad leads all players at the 2010 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp with six goals in five games against teams from Finland, Sweden and the U.S. ... Bjugstad (6-1--7) and Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.J./ 3-4--7) are tied for the camp lead with seven points in five games ... The U.S. improved to 2-0-0-0 in international competition, having defeated Sweden yesterday (Aug. 3), 6-3 ...

All four of the remaining international games featuring the U.S., Finland and Sweden will be webcast at USAHockey.FASTHockey.com ... The 2011 IIHF World Junior Championships will take place Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y., and Niagara University's Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, N.Y. Additional information including a full preliminary-round tournament schedule and ticket details can be found at BuffaloWorldJuniors.com ...The 2011 U.S. National Junior Team will be selected in late December following a pre-tournament camp that will begin in mid-December ... Keith Allain, head men's ice hockey coach at Yale University, will serve as head coach of the 2011 U.S. National Junior Team. Allain will be assisted by Mark Osiecki, head men's ice hockey coach at The Ohio State University; Phil Housley, head boy's ice hockey coach at Stillwater (Minn.) high school; and Joe Exter, USA Hockey's national goaltending coach ... Mark Carlson, head coach and general manager of the United States Hockey League's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, and Greg Brown, assistant men's ice hockey coach at Boston College, will also participate in Lake Placid as camp coaches ... Jim Johannson is serving as the general manager of the U.S. National Junior Team for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, Tim Taylor, former U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team head coach and longtime Yale University men's ice hockey team head coach, is also serving his second straight year as Team USA's director of player personnel.

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United States Hockey League Stories from August 4, 2010


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