USHL U.S. National Team

National Team Development Program Weekly Update

March 17, 2010 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


THIS WEEK: The U.S. National Under-18 Team will play its last two USHL contests this weekend. Team USA will travel to Bensenville, Ill., for a meeting with the Chicago Steel at 7:30 p.m. CST Friday, before heading to Inianapolis, Ind., for a Saturday-night contest against defending Clark Cup Champion Indiana Ice at 7:05 p.m. EST... The U.S. National Under-17 Team will travel to Nebraska for a pair of games against USHL West Division opponents. The U17s will take on the Tri-City Storm Friday at 7:05 p.m. CST, before meeting the the Lincoln Stars Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

UNDER-18 HEAD COACH KURT KLEINENDORST: Kurt Kleinendorst is in his first season at the NTDP. Prior to coming to Ann Arbor, Kleinendorst spent three seasons (2006-09) as the first-ever head coach for the American Hockey League's Lowell Devils, top minor-league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils. Kleinendorst also spent one season as an assistant coach with the NHL's Devils in 2000-01. He has led the U.S. National Under-18 Team to a 34-18-0-2 (W-L-T-OTL) record this season.

UNDER-17 HEAD COACH RON ROLSTON: Ron Rolston is in his sixth season as a head coach at the NTDP. Rolston has compiled a career record of 208-134-7-20 (W-L-T-OTL). In January, he led the U.S. National Under-17 Team to its third gold medal at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

U.S. NAT'L U18 TEAM NOTES: The U.S. National Under-18 Team is coming off a weekend split with a pair of USHL opponents... Brandon Saad (Gibsonia, Pa.) added a goal on the weekend to up his team-best point total to 46. He is tied for second on the squad with 23 goals... Matthew Nieto (Long Beach, Calif.) scored a goal against Cedar Rapids Friday to extend his lead in that category to 24. Nieto also is second on the squad with 44 points... Austin Czarnik (Washington, Mich.) added another assist to his team-high 28 helpers this year... Adam Clendening (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) has 33 points (9-24), which is tops among NTDP defensemen... Goaltender Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) notched the 42nd win of his NTDP career Saturday. He's seventh on the NTDP's all-time career wins list... Justin Faulk's (South St. Paul, Minn.) 18 goals pace the U.S. blueliners, while his 13 power-play tallies are a team best... Nick Shore's (Denver, Colo.) 43 points rank third on the squad, while his 27 assists are second-best on Team USA. He has appeared in each of the U18's 54 games this season... Andy Iles (Ithaca, N.Y.) has put up sparkling numbers this season with a 2.18 goals-against average and.917 save percentage, to go along with a 17-6-1 record... Team USA has gotten balanced scoring this season. Eight players have 30 points or more, while 13 have more than 20 points this season. Additionally, the U.S. has seven players with 20-plus assists on the season.

U.S. NAT'L U17 TEAM NOTES: The U.S. National Under-17 Team is coming off an idle weekend... Austin Hervey (Brighton, Mich.), who is fresh off winning the Michigan State Championship with Detroit Catholic Central High School, will rejoin the U.S. National Under-17 Team for the remainder of the season. Hervey appeared in five games with Team USA, prior to the start of his high school season, and recorded a goal and an assist... Tyler Biggs (Cincinnati, Ohio) is Team USA's leading goal scorer with 15. He will join the U.S. National Under-18 Team for this weekend's series... A poll on USHL.com asked fans, "What has been the most impressive highlight of the 2009-10 season so far?" Currently, John Gibson's (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 58-save performance against Tri-City from Nov. 20 leads the poll, garnering 34% of the vote. Gibson earned back-to-back wins in net for the first time in the USHL this season in his last starts. His goals-against average has steadily declined and now sits at 4.15, while he has a.884 save percentage.... J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio), who sat last weekend out with a lower-body injury, will return for this weekend's series. He is second on the squad with 29 points (14-15)... Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) has been the top point-getter among defensemen with 26 this season. He is also second on the team with 19 assists... Reid Boucher (Grand Ledge, Mich.) has five points (4-1) in his last four games. He sits third on the team with 27 points (14-13) in just 35 games this season.

NTDP ALUMNI UPDATE: As of today, more than 47 former NTDP players have suited up in at least one NHL game this season... Since being traded from the Phoenix Coyotes to the Colorado Avalanche, Peter Mueller (2003-05) has been on fire. In seven games with Colorado, he has 11 points (4-7)... Jamie McBain (2005-07) was called up by the Carolina Hurricanes and notched an assist in his first career NHL game... Patrick Kane (2004-06), of the Chicago Blackhawks, is averaging 1.13 points per game this season. He leads all American-born players with 77 points, including 51 assists... Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Suter (2001-03) has posted 30 assists this season, which is tied with Brian Rafalski for best among American defensmen... Kevin Porter (2002-04), who was traded from Phoenix to Colorado with Mueller, has appeared in three games with the Avalanche since being called up on March 11. NCAA: A pair of NTDP alums sit atop the WCHA points leaderboard heading into this week's Final Five tournament. Rhett Rakhshani (2004-06), of the University of Denver, leads the league with 35 points (15-20), while the University of Wisconsin's Blake Geoffrion (2004-06) is second with 34 points (19-15)... University of Michigan freshman Chris Brown (2007-09) was named a finalist for the CCHA's Rookie of the Year award, while fellow Wolverine Matt Rust (2005-07) was named a finalist for CCHA Best Defensive Forward award.

Check out the U.S. National Team Statistics



United States Hockey League Stories from March 17, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central