2013 U.S. WJC Camp: USA White vs. Finland Recap

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Chris Peters

In what was the best game for any U.S. team at the National Junior Evaluation Camp to date, USA White took down Finland 5-2.

It had the most flow of any game, which was pretty good to see. The forwards in particular really stood out, while the defense showed some great improvement from Day 1 to Day 2 of games.

Part of it was some tired legs on Finland’s behalf as the U.S. seemed to be in quite a bit better shape and out-skated the Finns. Overall, however, many of the American players stepped up in a big way in its second game.

This game poses many more tough decisions when it comes to making the cuts before Wednesday’s single-roster games begin.

After the jump, the scoring summary from today’s contest and thoughts on U.S. players of note as well as some other odds and ends.

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Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NCAA, NHL Draft, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey, World Junior Championship | 1 Comment

2013 U.S. WJC Camp: USA Blue vs. Sweden Recap

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Chris Peters

Ah, summer hockey. It’s so wonderful to have high-level hockey back, but as it is summer, it’s not always going to be the prettiest game on earth. That’s probably a good way to describe the early-afternoon game between Sweden and USA Blue at the National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., Monday.

The U.S. got off to a pretty bad start, falling behind 3-0 before answering back halfway through the second period. Team Blue was out-shot 17-6 in the first period in a total out-classing by the Swedes.

The U.S. squad did get better as the game wore on, playing a bit more crisply and eventually turning the momentum to their side in the third period.

The camp will be whittled down by Tuesday into one squad. Those cuts don’t mean anything final, but based on what’s been shown in camp, the decisions on who to keep are the wrong kind of tough.

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Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NCAA, NHL Draft, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey, World Junior Championship | 3 Comments

2013 U.S. WJC Camp: News and Notes from First Two Days

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Chris Peters

U.S. World Junior Camp is in full swing in Lake Placid, N.Y. It really kicked into high gear Sunday when the U.S. split squads took on international competition for the first time.

USA White met Sweden, while Blue took on Finland. Unfortunately for both clubs, they ended up on the wrong end of the result.

White fell to Sweden 4-2 in the opening game, while USA Blue gave up a late goal in regulation and ended up on the short end in OT, falling 6-5.

This camp really is a special event for the summer and quite the evaluation tool for USA Hockey’s brass to make the most educated decisions on the final roster. Bringing in a group of 44 players, the haves and have nots get separated pretty quickly in these games.

The fact that both teams lost isn’t really that big of a surprise. The depth of this player pool isn’t exactly, well, deep. They’ve got some great pieces at the top, but when you split them up, it’s a lot tougher to expect better results.

Coming up after the jump, some odds and ends from camp complete with yesterday’s scoring summaries and brief analysis on a few standouts.

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Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NCAA, NHL Draft, U.S. National Teams, World Junior Championship | 1 Comment

2013 Ivan Hlinka: Team USA Preview

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Chris Peters

The first major event of the 2014 NHL Draft season opens up Monday when the puck drops on the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka Under-18 Tournament in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia.

The tournament features national teams from the United States, Canada, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland and Russia, which makes it a huge early scouting event.

The U.S. team was selected out of the Select 17 Player Development Camp, which was held back in late June into early July. This roster features many of the best players in USA Hockey’s player pool outside of the National Team Development Program. This tournament gives USAH a chance to get more of its players international experience in a high-level event, so there’s a ton of value there.

Canada has typically dominated the Hlinka as it is the country that typically invests the most in this tournament. Since many Canadian players are unavailable for the World Under-18 Championship in April due to the CHL playoffs, this is typically the best team Canada can ice at the U18 level in any given year.

More countries seem to be putting more into this tournament as well, with Sweden notably including many of its best U18 players on its roster.

Coming up after the jump, a closer look at Team USA and some of the opposing players to watch.

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Posted in American Prospects, High School Hockey, Junior Hockey, NCAA, NHL Draft, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey | 3 Comments

2013 U.S. WJC Camp Preview: Forwards

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Chris Peters

There will be many questions for the U.S. National Junior Team heading into its gold medal defense at the 2014 World Junior Championship and a lot of them will center around its forward crop. Twenty-four forwards have been invited to the National Junior Evaluation Camp which begins Saturday in Lake Placid, N.Y. They’ll hope to start providing some answers this week.

After looking at the defense and goalies yesterday, the forward group presents quite a few challenges. Without age-eligible Alex Galchenyuk returning, it is tough to pinpoint a go-to scorer among the group of 24 forwards. There is, however, a wide variety of skill sets that could make for a well-balanced lineup. Is it a gold-medal crop? Well we won’t know until the season plays out more and more players start to emerge, but there’s at least some intriguing pieces.

Coming up after the jump, a look at all 24 forwards invited to the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp.

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Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NCAA, NHL Draft, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey, World Junior Championship | 3 Comments

2013 U.S. WJC Camp Preview: Defensemen and Goalies

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Chris Peters

On Saturday, 44 hopefuls for the U.S. National Junior Team will hit the Olympic Center ice in Lake Placid, N.Y. It is just the first step towards making the team that will look to defend America’s gold medal at the World Junior Championship in Malmo, Sweden.

The U.S. is going to experience some heavy losses of key players that are still age eligible. In all likelihood, Jacob Trouba, Seth Jones and Alex Galchenyuk will be playing a regular shift in the NHL come World Juniors. That’s the two best defensemen from last year’s team gone and a lot of offense to replace in Galchenyuk. None of the three will be in camp. So there are certainly going to be challenges for this team to overcome.

The depth of this class pales in comparison to the last few, which is going to put a lot of stress on the defense and assuredly the goaltending. As such, this camp will provide an important first look at what Team USA has to work with in these positions.

Coming up after the jump, an in-depth look at the four goaltenders and 16 defensemen invited to the National Junior Evaluation Camp.

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Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NCAA, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey, World Junior Championship | 3 Comments

2013 U.S. WJC Camp Preview — What You Need to Know

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Chris Peters

The 2013 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp will kick off Saturday in Lake Placid, N.Y. Forty-four Americans under the age of 20 will compete in a series of practices and games in hopes of bettering their chances to make the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2014 World Junior Championship.

With the backdrop of the historic Olympic Center in Lake Placid, site of the 1980 Miracle on Ice, this camp has really become a destination event for scouts and has increased its media exposure. It is one of the more unique events on the international calendar.

The camp, as always, will include national teams from Sweden and Finland. However, the big twist to this year’s camp is that Canada will also be sending a team. All three will be using their time in Lake Placid as a chance to evaluate their own candidates for the World Junior Championship as well.

The camp has evolved over the years, but the introduction of Canada adds an entirely new and interesting element, which should bring more media coverage and hopefully better fan attendance as well.

Coming up after the jump, some of the things you need to know about following the 2013 World Junior Camp.

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Posted in Junior Hockey, NCAA, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey, World Junior Championship | 4 Comments

2014 Olympics: On Building a Team for the Big Ice

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Chris Peters

Now that camp rosters are being named and there’s not much else to talk about, preparations for the Olympics seem to be a hot topic of late. With invites handed out, the general managers are beginning to tip their hands a bit when it comes to how they’ll build their teams.

The biggest topic when it comes to team construction is the size of the ice. The 2014 Olympic hockey tournament will be played on a traditional Olympic-sized sheet, 60-by-30 meters (essentially 200 feet long, by 100 feet wide). An NHL sheet is 200 feet long by 85 feet wide, so the difference is significant.

Because of the big ice, there are going to be plenty of differences between how the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team was constructed as opposed to the 2014 edition of Team USA. That said, the differences don’t necessarily have to be as significant as you might think.

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Posted in 2014 Olympics, NHL, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey | 2 Comments

2014 Olympics: Team USA Assistants Named, Orientation Camp News & Notes

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Chris Peters

It’s been a busy couple of days when it comes to the Olympics, but it sure is nice to have NHL players headed to Sochi once again. Team USA’s big news Tuesday was the addition of three assistant coaches. Additionally, more details surrounding the selections for the Olympic orientation camp, were unveiled Tuesday.

Philadelphia Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette, Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards and Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Tony Granato will join Dan Bylsma behind the bench in Sochi.

It’s a staff with a good amount of experience at the professional level, but also provides a solid mix of international experience with familiarity. Laviolette was the Olympic head coach in 2006, while both Richards and Granato have worked with Bylsma in the past. Granato and Laviolette also bring experience as past Olympians, which may prove particularly important this year.

Coming up after the jump, more thoughts on the completed coaching staff, as well as some details about the Olympic Orientation Camp and other odds and ends from David Poile’s Tuesday teleconference. Continue reading →

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2014 Olympics: USA Hockey’s Orientation Camp Roster Named

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Chris Peters

The U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Team took a gigantic step forward Monday afternoon when its orientation camp roster was unveiled. USA Hockey will be bringing 48 players to Arlington, Va., August 26-27.

Of the 48 invited, 16 are returnees from the 2010 silver medal squad including Ryan Miller, Jonathan Quick, Patrick Kane, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Phil Kessel, Dustin Brown, Bobby Ryan, Ryan Kesler, Ryan Callahan, Brooks Orpik, Paul Stastny, David Backes, Jack Johnson, Erik Johnson and Joe Pavelski

There were several surprises with this roster, however. One was the size. USA Hockey is bringing 14 more players than it did for the 2009 orientation camp for the 2010 Olympics. The other is that a lot of the extra guys they brought were very young players, including several with little-to-no NHL experience.

One of the reasons they could bring so many more players is that they won’t be skating. It probably would have been a huge cost in insurance to have these players on the ice, so since that’s no longer an issue, they could expand the list. This camp will be to get everyone on the same page about what will be expected, how the evaluation process will work and get a taste of what Bylsma will be doing in terms of strategy.

Among the omissions that will see some debate, Jason Pominville is at the top of the list. The two-time 30-goal scorer, who is a dual citizen and has represented the U.S. at the World Championship, was not among the 48 invited. Additionally, Brandon Dubinsky, who could’ve been a fourth-line defensive specialist perhaps, was not among those listed.

Other than that, there wasn’t anything overwhelmingly stunning about who didn’t make it.

Coming up after the jump some detailed thoughts on the players invited and which battles will be worth watching most closely, not only in camp, but throughout the entire first half of next season.

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