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NAHL U.S. National Team

Eleven states represented on US National Team Development Program

August 24, 2004 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


USA Hockey and the United States National Team Development Program (NTDP) have announced the 43 players who have committed to play for the NTDP and will play in excess of 110 combined games during the 2004-05 season.

The NTDP has produced 92 NHL drafted players in just six years of eligibility and has seen over 150 players move to the collegiate ranks.

Returning to the NTDP roster are four goaltenders, 14 defenseman and 24 forwards. Among the returnees are Lisle, Illinois, native Zach Jones, who won the "Best Defenseman" award at the 2004 IIHF World U-18 Championship in Minsk, Belarus, and Phil Kessel (Madison, Wisconsin) the 2003-04 NTDP leading scorer (82 points). Kessel broke the NTDP single-season goal scoring record notching 52 goals, eclipsing the previously held record of 43 posted by current Nashville Predators forward Adam Hall.

In addition to Kessel, five of the top 10 leading scorers -- Ryan Stoa (Bloomington, Minnesota), Nathan Gerbe (Oxford, Michigan), Jack Skille (Madison, Wisconsin), Jason Lawrence (Saugus, Massachusetts), and Peter Mueller (Bloomington, Minnesota) -- from the 2003-04 season return for another season with the NTDP.

Jack Johnson (Faribault, Minnesota), who led all NTDP defenseman in scoring (33 points), along with Mark Mitera (Livonia, Michigan), return to patrol the blueline for the Red, White and Blue, while Jeff Frazee (Burnsville, Minnesota) and Billy Blase (Santa Monica, California) will once again protect the net for the National Team.

Newcomers to the program include forwards Ryan Flynn (Lino Lakes, Minnesota) who posted 29-39–68 points in 29 games for Centennial High School and Bill Sweatt (Elburn, Illinois), who tallied 70 points for Team Illinois; defenseman Brian Strait (Waltham, Massachusetts) who registered 20 points in 30 games for Northfield Hermon High School; and Trent Palm (Edina, Minnesota) with 20-31–51 points for Shattuck-St. Mary's.

The Under-18 Team will be led by head coach Ron Rolston and assistant coach John Lilley and will compete against many of the top Division I teams in the country, including Boston University, Michigan, Michigan State, Maine and Minnesota.

The Under-17 Team, under the direction of head coach John Hynes and assistant coach Darrin Madeley, will compete against high-level junior teams from the North American Hockey League.

Internationally the Under-18 team will head to Sweden (Under-18) for a Five Nations event and to the Czech Republic for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World U-18 Championship.

The Under-17 team will travel to Slovakia for the Vlado Druzilla Under-18 Cup and Lethbridge, Alberta for the World Under-17 Challenge.

In addition to international travel, the NTDP will host simultaneous Four-Nation Cup events in November. The Under-18 team will host, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden in Ann Arbor, Mich., Nov. 7-12 while the Under-17 team hosts Russia, Slovakia and Switzerland in Rochester, N.Y., Nov. 8-13.

Check out the U.S. National Team Statistics

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North American Hockey League Stories from August 24, 2004


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