NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Team Weekly Report

Published on January 15, 2004 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


UNITED STATES NATIONAL UNDER-18 TEAM

The U.S. Under-18 Team went 1-0-1 on the week playing Lake Superior State University and the Soo (Ontario) Thunderbirds, both on the road, Friday, January 9 and Saturday, January 10, 2004.

Friday, Jan. 9 – USA 3, LSSU 3

Three power play goals charged the U-18 team to a 3-3 tie with the Lake Superior State Lakers, at the Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. This is the third consecutive season the two teams have played to a draw and USA now has an All-Time record against LSSU of 0-0-3.

Matt Auffery (Evan Mills, NY), Jason DeSantis (Oxford, MI) and Tom Fritsche (Parma, OH) each scored with the extra man.

"Lake Superior plays very hard and made us play extremely hard as well," said US-18 Head Coach John Hynes. "When we play against bigger teams and older guys we try to emphasis getting pucks to the net, which we were able to accomplish tonight."

Jordan Pearce (Anchorage, AK) earned the win in goal a he turned aside 32 shots and holding the Lakers to a single goal on five power play opportunities.

FRIDAY – US-18 @ LSSU

TEAM SCORING PIM PP SHOT Goalie

USA 1-1-1-0 10 3-4 31 Pearce (32-35)

LSSU 1-1-1-0 8 1-5 35 Violin (8-9), Jakaitis (20-22)

Scoring:

USA: Auffery (PPG), DeSantis (PPG), Fritsche (PPG), Lerg (2A), Porter (2A), Hagemo (A), Kolarik (A)

LSSU: Restoule (2G), Nicholson (PPG), Ward (A), Rainville (A), Campbell (A), Krueckl (A), Birkeland (A)

Saturday, Jan. 10 – USA 4, Soo Thunderbirds 3, SO in Gaylord, MI

In Gaylord, MI the US team earned a shootout win over the Soo (Ontario) Thunderbirds at the Otsego Sports Complex.

Matt Auffery (Evans Mills, NY), Tom Fritsche (Parma, OH) and Nathan Davis (Rocky River, OH) scored for the US in regulation. After a scoreless five-minute OT session Bryan Lerg (Livonia, MI), Chad Kolarik (Abington, MI) and Fritsche each scored to give the US the victory while Chris Carlson (Plainfield, IL) made 20 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout.

-cont.-

USA HOCKEY

National Team

Development Program

Weekly Release – 1/14/04

Cont.

SATURDAY – US-18 @ Thunderbirds

TEAM SCORING PIM PP SHOT Goalie

US-18 1-1-1-0 33 16 1-2 Carlson (20-23)

Thunderbirds 0-1-2-0 23 8 2-7 Michaels (21-23)/Mapes (9-10)

Scoring:

USA: Fritsche (G,A), Auffery (G), Davis (G), Lerg (A), Porter (A), DeSantis (A)

Thunderbirds: Vernelli (G,A),Jelitto (G, A), Butkus (G), MacMillan (A), MacKay (A)

Shootout Scoring:

USA: Lerg, Kolarik, Fritsche

Thunderbirds: None

THIS WEEK'S ACTION

On Saturday, January 17, the U-18 squad travel down the road to Yost Arena to take on the Michigan Wolverines the 5th ranked team in the nation. The Wolverines have an overall record of 14-7-1 and a CCHA mark of 9-4-1.

MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

Former USNTDP F Dwight Helminen, who fired four goals in Saturday's 7-1 win over Ohio State, is the second Wolverine this season to net four goals in one game, joining Brandon Kaleniecki, who notched four against Quinnipiac on Oct. 17 • Helminen scored goals at even strength, on the power play and while shorthanded. • Michigan is currently on a three-game winning streak. U-M had not had a three-game winning streak since the start of the season when the Wolverines ran off six straight victories from Oct. 11 to Nov. 8 • JR F Milan Gajic, who scored each night against OSU, is on a three-game goal-scoring streak and has scored in four straight conference contests • In the last two season's Michigan has scored a total of 17 goals on Jan. 10. U-M toppled Western Michigan by a score of 10-3 on Jan. 10, 2003 • Former USNTDP D Matt Hunwick, who had three assists on Saturday, finished the weekend with five helpers and six of his seven points this season have come against OSU.

Of the 25 current members of the Wolverines 8 (32 percent) are former USNTDP players.

COMMON OPPONENTS w/MICHIGAN:

Northern Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, LSSU

Northern 0, Michigan 2 USA 3, Northern 8

Northern 2, Michigan 5 USA 0, Notre Dame 4

Michigan State 0, Michigan 2 USA 1, Michigan State 2

Michigan 0, Michigan State 2

Michigan @ LSSU, January 30-31

Michigan @ Notre Dame, Feb. 27-28

Michigan @ Michigan State, March 5

Michigan State @ Michigan, March 6

HEARD AROUND THE RINK

"There are going to be players on that team (U-18), and we do not know who they are, that will end up playing in the NHL someday," said Michigan Head Coach Red Berenson.

-cont.-

USA HOCKEY

National Team

Development Program

Weekly Release – 1/14/04

UNITED STATES NATIONAL UNDER-17 TEAM

The U.S. Under-17 Team, idle this past weekend, return to NAHL action with a four game set at the Windy City Showcase in Orland Park, IL. The U-17 team has posted a 13-10-2 record in NAHL play with a combined record (with the U-18 team) of 18-10-2. With 38 points the US squad is tied for third, with the Cleveland Barons, In the North Division and are one point ahead of there January 21st opponent the Youngstown Phantoms.

Scoring Leaders for the U-17: Scoring Leaders (Defenseman):

Name GP G A PTS Name GP G A Pts

Kessel, Phil 39 33 23 56 Johnson, Jack 37 10 16 26

Gerbe, Nathan 36 21 15 36 Stuart, Mike 32 5 9 14

Skille, Jack 39 19 16 35 Mitera, Mike 38 2 11 13

Goaltenders for the U-17:

Name GP W L T SOL GAA Save %

Frazee, Jeff 27 15 8 1 1 2.90 .911

Blase, Billy 16 5 7 1 0 3.59 .895

NEXT ACTION

The US Under-17 Team Windy City Showcase to Orland Park, IL, Thursday, January 15 through Sunday January 18, 2004. The U-17 team will face the Springfield (MO) Spirit, Minnesota Blizzard, Wichita Falls Rustlers and the Texarkana Bandits.

SPRINGFIELD SPIRIT

The Spirit, of the NAHL South Division, has posted a 10-22-1 record and leads the NAHL in penalty minutes with 1156. Leading the scoring for the Spirit is Merit Waldrop with 10-16–26 points with Adam Smith and Brad Howard second in points scored for Springfield with 21.

MINNESOTA BLIZZARD

The Blizzard, of the NAHL West Division, has a 7-18-6 record. Dan Carlson and Jake Nelson lead the Blizzard in points with 21, while in goal Jacob Schuman has recorded 5 wins with a 3.62 GAA and .898 save percentage.

WICHITA FALLS RUSTLERS

The Rustlers of the NAHL South Division have a 13-15-4 record. In 31 games played Tom Biondich leads the Rustlers with 13-15–31 points. His seven power play goals are also best for Wichita. Goaltender Jim Redpath has the 8th best goals against average in the NAHL allowing only 2.38 per game.

TEXARKANA BANDITS

The Bandits a member of the NAHL South Division, in 31 games have a 15-15-1 record. Erik Condra has 28 points for the Bandits while Anthony Becker has posted 26. Defenseman Alex DiPietro, brother of former USNTDP and current New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro, has a goal and four assists for the Bandits.

Check out the U.S. National Team Statistics

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2004


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