NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-18 Team Travels South For NAHL Action

Published on February 28, 2006 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


THIS WEEK: This weekend (Mar. 3-4) the U.S. National Under-18 Team travels to Springfield, Illinois, for a pair games versus the Springfield Jr. Blues of the North American Hockey League's south division. Both contests are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.

U.S. HEAD COACH JOHN HYNES: John Hynes is in his third season with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. Hynes has spent time as an assistant coach at the University of Massachuttes Lowell and the University of Wisconsin. Hynes has amassed a career record with the NTDP of 82-45-8.

U.S. HEAD COACH JOHN HYNES ON THE WEEKEND AHEAD: "As the NAHL season winds down, this weekend's points will be key to help out our NTDP brothern to retain first place. For us, we need to continue to play well as a team for a complete 60 minutes both nights."

LAST TIME THEY MET ... 1/15/05 U.S. National Under-18 3 at Springfield 1

GAME NOTES: Springfield topped the U.S. National Under-17 Team in their first two meetings this year, 4-2 and 4-3 in Ann Arbor (Mich.)... The NTDP remains in first place of the NAHL north division. Heading into the weekend USA Hockey has a six point lead with five games in hand on the second place Cleveland Barons ... The U.S. National Under-18 Team is 15-0-0 versus NAHL teams this season, last year's U-18 team went 15-1-0 in NAHL play.

USA PLAYER TIDBITS: Forward Chris Atkinson (Sparta, N.J.) will be out indefinately after suffering an injury Saturday night (Feb. 25) versus RIT.

UP NEXT: Next week (Mar. 8-9) the U.S. National Under-18 Team will travel to Foxsboro, Massachusetts, to face the Eastern Junior Hockey League All-Stars. The games will be played at the Foxsboro Sports Center and will begin both nights at 6:30 p.m.

LAST WEEKEND: The U.S. National Under-18 Team traveled to Rohester, New York, to take on National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Rochester Institutre of Technology. The teams split a closely contested pair of games to close out the NCAA portion of the schedule.

Box scores from the weekend are below.

U.S. National Under-18 Team 3 at Rochester Institute of Technology 1

Scoring By Period USA 1-1-1 -- 3 RIT 0-1-0 -- 1

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Sweatt (O'Brien), 1:00. Penalties: RIT, Harris (boarding), 1:36; RIT, Harris (hooking), 4:35; USA, Bench (too many men- served by Wilson), 12: 03; USA, Montgomery (tripping), 14:58; RIT, Raymond (hooking), 18:55; USA, Atkinson (roughing), 20:00; RIT, Sarazin (holding the stick), 20: 00.

Second Period - Scoring: 2, RIT, Draper (Bifulco, Doherty), 8:27; USA, Flynn (Geoffrion, vanRiemsdyk), 1:04. Penalties: USA, Carman (interference), 0:40; USA, Johnson (interference), 7:34; USA, Carman (roughing), 11:49; RIT, Pinizotto (roughing), 11:49; RIT, Hyman (holding), 12:28; RIT, Patry (tripping), 13:48; USA, Sweatt (interference), 14:48; USA, O'Brien (roughing), 16:19; RIT, Lambert (roughing), 16:19.

Third Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Carman (Johnson, O'Brien), (pp) 14:28. Penalties: USA, vanRiemsdyk (hooking), 1: 04; USA, Palm (roughing), 5:40; USA, Montgomery (charging), 5:59; RIT, Tarantino (interference), 11:25; RIT, Burns (holding), 13:39; USA, Summers (interference), 15:40; USA, McBain (cross checking), 18:32.

Shots By Period 1 2 3 Total USA 9 13 8 30 RIT 6 8 10 24

Goaltending (SH-SV) 1 2 3 Total US, Bennett (60:00) 6-6 8-7 10-10 24-23 RIT, Eliopoulos (58:29) 9-8 13-12 8-7 30-29

Power Play: US 1-7; RIT 1-10 Penalties: US 13-26; RIT 10-20 Officials: Referee- Gene Binda Sr.

U.S. National Under-18 Team 1 at Rochester Institute of Technology 2

Scoring By Period USA 0-0-1 -- 1 RIT 1-0-1 -- 2

First Period - Scoring: 1, RIT, Doherty (Pinizotto, Patry), (4x4) 9:36. Penalties: RIT, Hyman (interference), 8: 20; USA, Ratchuk (charging), 8:41; RIT, Raymond (interference), 11:50.

Second Period - Scoring: No Scoring. Penalties: USA, Carman (hooking), 0:54; USA, Summers (high sticking), 9:09; USA, vanRiemsdyk (tripping), 12:29; RIT, Farrer (hooking), 18:02.

Third Period - Scoring: 2, RIT, Raymond (Smith, Patry), (pp) 8:07; 3, USA, McBain (Carman, Kane), (pp) 15:38. Penalties: USA, Johnson (interference), 6:49; USA, Popko (high sticking), 11:53; RIT, Newman (hooking), 15:06; USA, Atkinson (roughing), 19:44; RIT, Piniazotto (roughing), 19:44.

Shots By Period 1 2 3 Total USA 17 8 10 35 RIT 6 7 9 22

Goaltending (SH-SV) 1 2 3 Total USA, Palmer (58:55) L 6-5 7-7 9-7 22-20 RIT, Guimond (60:00) W 17-17 8-8 9-8 35-34

Power Play: US 1-4; RIT 1-6 Penalties: US 7-14; RIT 5-10 Officials: Referee- Paul Pfeiffer

NTDP ALUMNI UPDATE: University of Minnesota freshman forward Phil Kessel (Madison, Wis.) was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Rookie of the Week ending February 26. Kessel has earned the honor three times this season and currently leads all freshman in scoring with 42 points (14-28--42). The same week Kessel was honored, Colorado College senior forward Brett Sterling (Pasadena, Calif.) was named the WCHA Player of the Week. Sterling produced four points, factored in both game-winning goals, fired 12 shots on goal and earned a +2 plus-minus rating in the weekend series versus Alaska Anchorage.

ABOUT THE NTDP: Founded in 1997, 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. The program has been instrumental in capturing gold medals at the 2002 and 2005 IIHF World Under-18 Championships and the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship. This past summer 15 NTDP alumni were selected in the NHL Entry Draft. In the seven years NTDP players have been eligible for the NHL draft, 107 players have been selected.

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North American Hockey League Stories from February 28, 2006


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