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NAHL U.S. National Team

Team USA Wins Back-To-Back IIHF World Under-18 World Championships

April 22, 2006 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


ÄNGELHOLM, Sweden -- The U.S. National Under-18 Team topped Finland tonight 3-1 to win the gold medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship.

The Fins opened the scoring late in the first period when Joonas Kemppainen pushed in a loose puck underneath the U.S. netminder Joe Palmer (Yorkville, N.Y.) to give Team Finland the 1-0 advantage.

Team USA struck back 5:34 into the second period when Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) notched his fifth goal of the tournament when he buried a feed from Mike Ratchuk (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Blake Geoffrion (Brentwood, Tenn.). USA gained the 2-1 lead with less than a second remaining in the second stanza. Team USA was swarming the Finish net and Chris Summers (Milan, Mich.) slid the puck across the line as time expired to give Team USA the 2-1 advantage after two periods.

In the third period, Erik Johnson (Bloomington, Minn.) was accessed a five minute penalty for checking to the head while Team USA was already short two men. The U.S. killed seven consecutive minutes of a Finish power-play with great saves from Palmer and a stingy U.S. defense. With seconds remaining in the game, Mike Carman (Apple Valley, Minn.) scored an empty-net goal to cap off the victory for Team USA.

"Tonight was an unbelevievable experience," said USA Head Coach John Hynes. "To watch a group of guys realize a dream they set into motion two years ago is really something special."

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North American Hockey League Stories from April 22, 2006


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