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NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-17 Team Plays Four NAHL Games in Six Days on the Road

January 23, 2007 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


THIS WEEK: The U.S. National Under-17 Team will have a busy road schedule as they play four games versus three different opponents, in three different cities. The National Team will begin the stretch with a Tuesday night contest (Jan. 23/6:00 p.m. EST) in Boardman, Ohio, versus the North American Hockey League's top team: the Mahoning Valley Phantoms. Later in the week, Team USA will head north in the state of Michigan to take on NAHL clubs from Traverse City and Alpena. The squad will play the North Stars in Traverse City's Centre Ice Arena on Friday (Jan. 26) and Saturday (Jan.27) with both tilts beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST. Finally, the National Team will play in Alpena on Sunday (Jan. 29) for an afternoon affair with the Ice Diggers. Sunday's game at the Northern Lights Arena is slated to begin at 3:00 p.m. EST.

U.S. HEAD COACH JOHN HYNES: John Hynes is in his fourth season with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. He has amassed a career record with the NTDP of 116-70-8-5 (W-L-T-OTL). Hynes has earned a gold (2006) and a silver medal (2004) at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championships as a head coach and a gold (2002) as an assistant. In 2005, Hynes led the U.S. National Under-17 Team to a first-place NAHL North Division regular-season finish and a North Division playoff championship, marking the first time this double feat was accomplished by the NTDP. Prior to his arrival in Ann Arbor, he spent time as an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the University of Wisconsin.

U.S. HEAD COACH JOHN HYNES ON THE WEEK AHEAD: "This is point in the season where we really need to push hard. The schedule is more grueling than our kids are accustomed to so we really need to concentrate each and every day on getting better. I'm optimistic that we are going to continue progressing to the level of play that we are capable of. The grind of the next couple weeks really excites me and I view the four games we have this week as opportunities to improve as a team."

TEAM USA PLAYER NOTES: Defenseman Nick Pryor (Woodbury, Minn.) and forward David Wohlberg (South Lyon, Mich.) return to the Under-17 Team's lineup this week. Wohlberg returns after missing last weekend's series versus Marquette, while Pryor returns to action for the first time since December 11 when the National Team took on Traverse City ... U.S. National Under-18 Team defenseman Joseph Lavin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) will be added the Under-17 Team's roster for this week's series of games. Lavin returns for his first game action in over a month ... Goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and forward Ryan Schnell (Cary, Ill.) will remain with the U.S. National Under-17 Team for this week's slate of games ... The Under-17 Team's leading scorers Vinny Saponari (Powder Springs, Ga.) and Jordan Schroeder (Lakeville, Minn.) along with goaltender Nick Maricic (Alta Loma, Calif.) will continue to compete with U.S. National Under-18 Team ... National Team defensemen Ryan Grimshaw (Rochester, N.Y.) and Grant Scott (Sewickley, Pa.) along with forward Richard Manley (South Buffalo, N.Y.) remain out of the lineup due to injury.

ABOUT THE NTDP: Founded in 1996, USA Hockey's National Team Development Program was created to prepare student-athletes under the age of 18 for participation on U.S. National Teams and success in their future hockey careers. Its efforts focus not only on high-caliber participation on the ice, but creating well-rounded individuals off the ice. Located in Ann Arbor, Mich., the 46 players in the program are split into two squads - the U.S. National Under-18 and Under-17 Teams. In the eight years NTDP players have been eligible for the draft, 124 players have been selected, including the number one overall selection in both 2000 (Rick DiPietro) and 2006 (Erik Johnson).

GAME NOTES - MAHONING VALLEY: The Phantoms lead the NAHL with 63 points through 42 games this season. The team currently holds a record of 31-10-1, including a perfect 16-0 mark at its home rink - the Boardman Ice Zone - this season ... Mahoning Valley is currently on a three game winning streak ... The Phantoms powerplay ranks second in the league with a 19.34% conversion rate ... Mahoning Valley Ryan Zapolski ranks third in the NAHL amongst goalies with a 92.7% save percentage. Zapolski's 2.35 GAA ranks him fourth amongst his league peers ... Phantoms forward Dustin Cloutier currently ranks seventh amongst NAHL scorers with 48 points (25-23) in 33 games. Nathan Longpre (45 pts.), Derek Graham (45 pts.), Chris Fairbanks (43 pts.), Matt Quigley (41 pts.), and Chad Boeckman (37 pts.) all rank in the NAHL's top 25 scoring leaders for the 2006-2007 season.

GAME NOTES - TRAVERSE CITY: The U.S. National Under-17 Team has a 3-2 record versus the North Stars this season. Team USA claimed the last meeting between the two squads on Dec. 9, 2006 with a 4-3 shootout win in Ann Arbor, Mich. ... The North Stars have a 13-25-5 record in 2006-07 and a home record of 8-9-3 at the Centre Ice Arena.

GAME NOTES - ALPENA: The Ice Diggers 54 points on the season places the club second in the NAHL's North Division and in fifth place overall for the league. Alpena has a 26-10-2 record through 38 games in 2006-07 and a 13-1-1 mark at home in the Northern Lights Arena ... Alpena is currently riding a eight game home winning streak and a three game winning streak overall ... The Ice Diggers powerplay is tops in the league with a conversion rate of 23.05% ... Alpena forwards Todd Rudasill (62 pts/20-42) and Drew Pierson (49 pts/20-29) rank first and sixth respectively amongst the NAHL's scoring leaders. Nolan Crander (45 pts.), Erik Peterson (39 pts.), and Justin Stadler (37 pts.) also rank in the top 25 in league scoring.

LAST WEEK: The U.S. National Under-17 Team split an exciting series with the Marquette Rangers. Marquette was able to claim game number one of the two game set before the National Team bounced back in exhilarating fashion with a 2-1 shoot-out victory over the Rangers. Mike Cichy's (New Hartford, Conn.) sudden-death shoot-out goal sealed the victory for the National Team. U.S. goaltender Michael Clemente (Great Falls, Va.) stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced to claim the victory.

UP NEXT: The National Under-17 will head to Alpena for an evening game versus the Ice Diggers on Thursday, February 1 (7:00 p.m. EST). On February 5, the U.S. National Under-17 Team will travel to Piestany, Slovakia, for the Under-18 Vlad Dzurilla Four Nations Tournament. Team USA will join host Slovakia to compete against the national teams from Germany and Switzerland.

Check out the U.S. National Team Statistics



North American Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2007


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