USHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-17 Team Outlasts Czech Republic, 3-2

Published on December 30, 2009 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


NEW LISKEARD, Ont. - J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio), Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif.) and Barrett Kaib (Upper St. Clair, Pa.) each tallied as the U.S. National Under-17 Team edged the Czech Republic, 3-2, here tonight in its second game at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Team USA improved to 2-0-0-0 with the win and sits in first place in Group B.

The U.S. jumped out to a quick lead when Miller snapped a shot inside the left post from the top of the right faceoff circle just 2:28 into the game. The Czechs answered back 2:36 later after Vojtech Butor's shot found the top-right corner.

Just 32 seconds into the second stanza, Marek Hrbas's slap shot beat netminder John Gibson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) just inside the right post during a Czech five-on-three power play to make it 2-1. Team USA answered back 3:28 later with a power-play goal of its own when Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) wired a pass to Grimaldi who snapped it into the open net from the left side to knot the score, 2-2. With 5:42 to play in the middle frame, an errant clearing attempt found Kaib, who wired a wrist shot from the left point over sprawling netminder David Honzik.

Gibson made 13 of his 32 saves in the final frame, while Team USA killed four Czech power plays to preserve the 3-2 win.

The U.S. National Under-17 Team is back in action Thursday in Iroquois Falls, Ont., as it takes on Russia at 7 p.m. EST. The game will be webcast live on FASTHockey.com.

NOTES: Rocco Grimaldi, who leads Team USA with four points (2-2) in the tournament, was named the U.S. player of the game for the third consecutive game including the pre-tournament contest... Barrett Kaib's tally was his first-career goal as a member of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program... The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the premier event for the under-17 age group, runs from Dec. 29, 2009 - Jan. 4, 2010 in Timmins, Ont. In addition to the United States, the event includes five Canadian regional teams (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Pacific and West), as well as national teams from the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden. Team USA has won the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge twice (2001, 2002) and has placed in each of the last two years (second, 2008; third, 2009)... FASTHockey is providing live coverage of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. For a complete schedule of FASTHockey's webcasts, visit FASTHockey.com.

Check out the U.S. National Team Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United States Hockey League Stories from December 30, 2009


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