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NAHL U.S. National Team

Jones Named Best Defenseman at World U-18 Championship

April 22, 2004 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


ANN ARBOR, Mich. – United States U-18 National Team rearguard Zach Jones (Lisle, Ill.) was recently named "Best Defenseman" at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World U-18 Championship in Minsk, Belarus. Jones and the U.S. team earned a silver medal at the event finishing with a 5-1 record.

"It is a phenomenal and well deserved achievement for Zach to win the best defenseman award," stated U.S. U-18 National Team Assistant Coach Darrin Madeley. "For a player of that age (17) to play the way he did when always matched against the other teams best players and take it upon himself to shut them down is more then we could have asked for."

Jones, a 1987 DOB, logged in excess of 25 minutes per game at the World Championship. While patrolling the blue line Jones, along with his defensive partner U.S. Captain and Minnesota Golden Gopher recruit Nate Hagemo (Edina, Minn.), helped Team USA post the tournament best penalty-killing unit. The U.S. stopped 92% of opponents' power play opportunities.

In sixty-four games of for the NTDP, in international and domestic play, he posted a line of 2-11–13 points with 56 penalty minutes.

"He (Jones) is one of the main reasons the United States earned a medal," said Madeley.

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North American Hockey League Stories from April 22, 2004


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