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NAHL U.S. National Team

NTDP Squads Earn Two Wins at NAHL Top Prospects Tournament

January 19, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Two squads comprised of players from USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, Team Stars and Team Stripes, swept a pair of all-star teams from the North American Hockey League here today at the 2009 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament. The Stars earned a 4-1 decision over the NAHL West All-Stars, while the Stripes edged the NAHL South All-Stars 3-2.

After a scoreless first period in the first game, the NTDP Stars took a 1-0 lead at 3:25 of the second frame when Jerry D'Amigo (Binghamton, N.Y.) fired a wrist shot from the left circle that sailed over the right shoulder of West goalie Mathieu Dugas. Just 10 seconds later, after the ensuing face-off, John Henrion (Holden, Mass.) launched a shot from between the circles that landed in the lower right corner of the net to give USA a 2-0 lead. The lead was stretched to three at 9:44 when A.J. Treais (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) grabbed a rebound on the left side and quickly shot the puck back into the net. The West All-Stars responded on a power play at 15:15 when Drew Darwitz took a pass and fired a shot from just inside the blue line that found its way past Stars netminder Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) to make the score 3-1.

With just 1:29 left to play in the third stanza, the NTDP Stars were able to capitalize on a five-on-three power play as William Wrenn (Anchorage, Alaska) was able to find an open Treais, who put the puck into the open net.

Campbell made 17 saves to earn the victory.

In the second game, the South Division All-Stars took a 1-0 lead at 10:35 of the first period as Sean McKenzie got past the Stripes defenders for a breakaway and beat netminder Will Yanakeff (Jerome, Mich.) top-right corner for the goal.

The NTDP Stripes tied the game at one at 10:47 in the second stanza when Austin Czarnik (Washington, Mich.) put in a rebound with a backhand shot after an attempt by Michael Mersch (Park Ridge, Ill.). Stripes took the lead at 14:58 when Jarred Tinordi (Millersville, Md.) took a pass from Czarnik and fired a slap shot from the top of the left circle and made it into the upper-left corner of the net for a power-play goal. The Stripes continued its scoring streak and made it 3-1 at 15:50 during a power play when Brendan Rempel (Willington, Conn.) took a crossing pass from Drew Shore (Denver, Colo.) and found an open corner on the left side for the goal.

The lead was narrowed to one at 7:23 in the third period on a one-timer from the left circle by South All-Star Grant Gorczyca that beat Yanakeff above his right shoulder.

Yanakeff made 25 saves to earn the victory.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team returns to action on the road Tuesday at Adrian College at 7 p.m. ET, while the Under-17 Team will head to Alpena, Mich., for a weekend series against the Alpena Ice Diggers beginning Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.

NOTES: Jerry D'Amigo and A.J. Treais each talled three goals over the course of the Top Prospects Tournament ... Treais (3-1--4) and Jacob Fallon (Southlake, Texas/1-3--4) finished with four points each to lead all NTDP players during the tournament ... John Hynes, head coach of the U.S. National Under-17 Team, led Team Stars and Ron Rolston, head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team, was at the helm of Team Stripes ... The 2009 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament features both NTDP squads and four all-star teams representing each of the NAHL's four divisions - North, South, West and Central.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 19, 2009


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