NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-18 Team Travels to NAHL Showcase

Published on January 18, 2006 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


THIS WEEK: The U.S. National Under-18 Team travels to Boardman, Ohio, to participate in the North American Hockey League North Division Showcase from Thursday (Jan. 19) to Sunday (Jan. 22).

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: "The showcase will be a great opportunitty for our team to work on the little things in our game in preparation for the World Tournament in April. It is great opportunity to mix-up lines and put our guys in situations where they may be uncomfortable in an effort to make our team stronger as a unit going forward."

LAST TIME THEY MET ... Traverse City North Stars

Nov. 23 U.S. National Under-18 Team 5 @ North Stars 1

Mahoning Valley Phantoms Sept. 10 Phantoms 0 @ U.S. National Under-18 Team 6

USA PLAYER TIDBITS: Forward James O'Brien (Maplewood, Minn.) has verbally committed to play collegiately next year at the University of Minnesota of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. O'Brien is the youngest member (Jan. 29, 1989) of the Under-18 Team ... Goaltender Brett Bennett (Williamsville, N.Y.) is expected t o suit-up this week at the NAHL Showcase. Bennett has not appeared in a game this season due to injury ... USA defenseman Erik Johnson (Bloomington, Minn.) is currently ranked as the number one north-american born prospect for the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, according to NHL Central Scouting. Johnson leap-frogged NTDP alumus Phil Kessel (Madison, Wis.) who has held the top spot since the preliminary rankings and is now ranked in the second spot.

SHOWCASE NOTES: The Under-18 Team is undefeated (11-0-0) versus NAHL opponents this season ... The National Team Development Program (22-8-4), comprised of the Under-17 and Under-18 team, is currently in second place in the north division with six games in hand to division-leader Cleveland Barons (23-13-4).

LAST WEEKEND: The U.S. National Under-18 Team traveled across town in Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on the ninth-ranked University of Michigan Wolverines on Friday night (Jan. 13). The Wolverines topped Team USA 4-3 carried by three power-play goals. On Saturday night (Jan. 14) the U.S. National Under-18 Team dominated the Alpena Ice Diggers of the North American Hockey League, 10-1 in Alpena, Mich. Box scores from the weekend games are below.

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.

U.S. National Under-18 Team 10 at Alpena 1 Scoring By Period USA 3-2-5 -- 10 ALP 0-1-0 -- 1

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, O'Brien (Sweatt, Geoffrion), 9:07; 2, USA, Montgomery (Mosey, Atkinson), 11:17; 3, USA, Kane (McBain), 14:24. Penalties: No Penalties.

Second Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Kane (O'Brien), (pp) 7:56; 5, ALP, Enmark (McIntyre, Craner), 15:24; 6, USA, Atkinson (Carman, Sperry), (pp) 17:23. Penalties: USA, O'Brien (slashing), 2:13; ALP, Roman (interference), 7:07; ALP, Greer (roughing), 7:37; USA, Sperry (high sticking), 9:43; USA, Squires (high sticking), 12:29; ALP, Hudick (roughing), 15:57; ALP, Barron (slashing), 18:40.

Third Period - Scoring: 7, USA, Geoffrion (Rakhshani, Ratchuk), (pp) 6:42; 8, USA, Squires (Sperry), 11:28; 9, USA, Kane (Palm, Carman), 11:52; 10, USA, Sweatt (O'Brien), 13: 31; 11, USA, Geoffrion (O'Brien, Sweatt), 17:05. Penalties: ALP, Rudasill (roughing), 6:00; USA, Kane (slashing), 7:31.

Shots By Period 1 2 3 Total USA 22 13 18 53 ALP 14 8 15 37

Goaltending (SH-SV) 1 2 3 Total USA, Palmer (60:00) 14-14 8-7 15-15 37-36 ALP, Greer (60:00) 22-19 13-11 15-10 53-43

Power Play: USA 3-5; ALP 0-4 Penalties: USA 4-8; ALP 5-10 Officials: Referee-Eric Kipp Attendance: 900

U.S. National Under-18 Team 3 at University of Michigan 4 Scoring By Period USA 1-2-0-- 3 UM 0-3-1-- 4

First Period: Scoring: 1, USA, Geoffrion (Rakhshani), 14:10. Penalties: USA, Palm (obstruction hooking), 7:42; USA, Squires (obstruction hooking), 10:25; UM, Bailey (high sticking contact to head), 14:00; USA, Palm (hooking), 15:27; USA, Squires (slashing), 17:50; USA, Geoffrion (roughing), 18:54; UM, Kolarik (roughing), 18:54.

Second Period: Scoring: 2, USA, O'Brien (Flynn, Kane), 4:40; 3, UM, Kolarik (Turnbull, Nurrato), (pp) 6:57; 4, USA, Johnson (Geoffrion, Sweatt), (pp) 9:01; 5, UM, Ebbett (Hensick, Johnson), (pp) 18:16; 6, UM, Hensick (Cogliano), (pp) 19:56. Penalties: UM, Hensick (slashing), 0:19; USA, O'Brien (tripping), 5:03; USA, Strait (checking from behind), 6:47; UM, Hunwick (hooking), 8:30; UM, Hunwick (unsportsmanlike), 8:30; UM, Hunwick (misconduct), 8:30; USA, Kane (hooking), 9:36; USA, Strait (checking from behind), 15:23; USA, Strait (game misconduct), 15:23.

Third Period - Scoring: 7, UM, Naurato (McVoy, Fardig), 3:08. Penalties: UM, Turnbull (tripping), 8:46; UM, Ebbett (hooking), 12:28; USA, O'Brien (holding), 12:47.

Shots By Period 1 2 3 Total US 7 8 9 24 UM 9 15 11 35

Goaltending (SH-SV) 1 2 3 Total US, Palmer(59:08) 9-9 15-12 11-10 35-31 UM, Sauer (30:14) 7-6 6-4 x-x 13-10 UM, Ruden (29:36) x-x 2-2 11-11 13-13

Power Play: US 2-6; UM 3-11 Penalties: US 11-33; UM 8-24 Officials: Referee- Craig Lisko (CCHA) Attendance: 6,685

UP NEXT: Following the NAHL Showcase, the U.S. National Under-18 Team will host National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 27-28) at 7:00 p.m. at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.

NTDP ALUMNI UPDATE: Matt Lashoff (Albany, N.Y.) a defenseman on the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League was named the Defenceman of the Month for December, Lashoff will also participate in the 2006 OHL All-Star Game ... Wisconsin senior captain Robbie Earl (Los Angeles, Calif.) recorded two goals and three assists last weekend (Jan. 13-14) as the top-ranked Badgers swept the seventh-ranked Colorado CollegeTigers ... Ottawa Senators rookie Patrick Eaves (Faribault, Minn. - Boston College) recorded two goals and one assist against the Minnesota Wild on Monday (Jan. 16) night. Eaves has recorded 11 points (9-2) and a plus-9 rating for the Senators this season.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 18, 2006


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