The United States of Hockey

The camp ended with a bit of a whimper Saturday as a team comprised of the remaining U.S. players at the National Junior Evaluation Camp fell to Finland 3-2 today in overtime. It wasn’t the best way to end the camp, but was an acceptable result considering the U.S. sat its most consistent offensive units.

Photo: Bill Hall

I’ll have a full recap of the camp on Monday as well as a way-too-early projected roster (selected only from players in camp, so it’s more like an All-NJEC team than the final USA roster for the World Juniors), to wrap the bow on NJEC coverage.

Today’s game wasn’t the best indication of what to expect going forward for the World Juniors, but provided an opportunity for the players most in need of extra evaluation time to show what they can do. Some players certainly seized the opportunity, while others may have fallen a little flat.

Overall, USA Hockey can be really pleased with the camp they just had and the group they ended up with. There’s going to be several tough decisions along the way.

Coming up after the jump, a U.S. scoring recap, a look inside today’s lineup and notes on some of the better performances from the 3-2 overtime loss to Finland.

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It’s that point of the camp where many of the players should be hitting their stride and settling in as they get their legs under them. If Thursday was any indication, at least 22 of the 34 left at the National Junior Evaluation Camp hit their stride all at once. The U.S. squad assembled for Thursday’s game against Sweden couldn’t have looked better, as they steamrolled the Tre Kronor by a score of 10-2.

John Gibson made 35 saves in the win (Photo: Bill Hall)

Sure, it’s only August, but it was a shocking result. The inconsistencies of the offense seen in prior games washed away as the U.S. put together a six-goal second period where it seemed like they could do no wrong. Meanwhile, Sweden, which had scored 13 goals in its previous two contests couldn’t seem to fight through the American defense or goaltender John Gibson.

This Swedish roster included four first-round picks and several returnees from the team that won gold at the 2013 World Juniors, so it’s not like this was a pushover team. Additionally, in Sweden’s first game in Lake Placid, they steamrolled USA White 5-1. So to see a 10-2 scoreline is indeed a surprise.

Team USA was 4-for-5 on the power play, which, considering the fact that these guys haven’t played together all that much is pretty interesting. So often it’s the special teams that can’t find their way in these settings. Both the power play and penalty kill clearly did today.

Coming up after the jump, a summary of the goals, a look at the U.S. lineup and copious notes on the top performers from Thursday’s contest.

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Coming off a 5-2 victory over Finland, the U.S. will send a new combination of 22 players out at 4 p.m. Thursday to take on Sweden. The Swedes have scored 13 goals so far in the two games they’ve been involved in, so this will be a terrific test at this stage of camp for Team USA.

Photo: Bill Hall

It’s also the second-to-last game for the American players to prove themselves at this early stage of the evaluation process for the 2013 World Junior Championship. Having a good game against the highly-skilled Swedes would be the best way to make a lasting impression on Phil Housley and staff.

Sweden boasts a lineup that features first-round picks Mika Zibanejad (OTT), Hampus Lindholm (ANA), Oscar Klefbom (EDM) and Filip Forsberg (WSH).

So far, it’s been undrafted Viktor Arvidsson stealing the show with three goals and an assist in two games, while William Karlsson, Anaheim’s second-rounder in 2011, also has three goals.

It sounds like Niklas Lundstrom will get the nod in net today, as the 31st overall pick from 2012 Oscar Dansk (CBJ) is nursing an injury.

Today’s contest should be really intriguing to watch as the U.S. has four defensemen and seven forwards that played in Wednesday’s game against Finland back in the lineup against Sweden.

Coming up after the jump a look at Team USA’s lineup and what to watch for in today’s contest.

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It’s the fifth day of the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp. The cuts have been made, so the tensions ease a little bit, but the competitiveness of the camp should not. Twenty-two of the 34 players remaining in camp will take on Finland at 4 p.m. ET in Lake Placid.

With the trimmed roster, there are still some extremely important elements of the camp. Phil Housley gets to take over a bit with the group he has and start working more on implementing systems that he’d prefer to employ at the World Junior Championship, minus a few wrinkles here and there. Getting the players familiar with both the system and each other is important.

The vast majority of the players that make the final roster for the U.S. National Junior Team in December will come out of this portion of the camp. With that in mind, there will be several line combos to watch over the next three days as the U.S. coaches will try to see who works well together and whose skill sets compliment each other. With most of these guys on different teams throughout the year, they’ll get precious few reps as a unit, so the next three days actually can have an impact in December.

That’s the real value in the dual camp format. They get a good look at 45 guys over a three-day period, a closer look at a smaller group the rest of the week and then one last look at 25-30 players once again in December. That, combined with the players’ performances throughout the first half of the season allow the USA Hockey brass to make the most informed decisions.

Coming up after the jump, a look at the projected combos for today’s contest and what to watch for as the U.S. meets Finland at 4 p.m. EDT on FASTHockey.com.

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With just three days to impress Phil Housley and his staff in the camp setting, the players at the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp had to be on from the beginning. With such tough competition in camp and so many good players, these decisions couldn’t have been easy, but USA Hockey announced its camp cuts today.

Photo: Bill Hall

In the end, 11 players were cut from the camp today, including six defensemen and five forwards. I was a little surprised to see USA Hockey decided to keep 34 players in Lake Placid, but based on what I’ve seen and heard so far, it was warranted. Keeping 34, including all four goalies, leaves more time to have direct contact with these players and more evaluation, particularly for some of the lesser-known guys.

“The first three days of camp have been impressive and we have been pleased with the players’ level of competition,” said Jim Johannson, Team USA’s general manager, in a statement. “The players being released today are still among those being evaluated for the team in the coming months. For the players retained, this week’s upcoming international games in Lake Placid give us an oportunity to further assess their skills.”

Like Johansson said, just because a guy got cut at this point doesn’t mean he’s out of the mix. There are guys that didn’t even make the camp that could push for spots in December.

Keep in mind, USA Hockey will hold a pre-tournament camp, which will serve as another evaluation period for 28-30 players just prior to the event in Ufa, Russia. So there’s still a long way to go between now and then.

The guys that remain in camp are going to have some extra opportunities to impress and position themselves well heading into the season. A good performance at this camp gives players a little more leeway if they struggle in the first-half of the season. Proving what they can do against the European squads goes a long way in developing a comfort level for the coaches and administrators, so these next few days remain crucial.

It will be with this roster that USA Hockey will go into the final three games of the camp, with two tilts against Finland and one against Sweden.

Coming up after the jump a brief look at those cut and the guys who are breathing a little easier this morning…

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The first few days at the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp is a bit of a competitive feeling-out process. The players are trying to get to know each other and gel in a short period of time, while also knowing they’re competing against each other for spots. However, as many of the players are about to find, these first impressions are pretty important.

First cuts will be made after today’s games against the European teams, as the U.S. trims closer to 22 for the remainder of camp. Today’s contests will be the last chance for the players to prove they belong. Today is particularly important for the guys on the bubble. They can either play themselves off it, or seal their ticket home. Against such quality competition from Sweden and Finland, the task will be tough.

It seems like a small sample size to go ahead and make cuts, but it’s important to keep in mind, these players have been monitored closely over the last year or two in various USA Hockey programs, as well as being scouted heavily by the administrators throughout the latter half of last season. The decisions will be pretty well informed. Once the new roster is announced, I’ll have a look at the decisions later Tuesday.

Now getting back to what happened over the weekend. Due to some family obligations, I was unable to watch the games, so there isn’t as much analysis here as there would normally be. I’ll be watching every U.S. game from here on out as they meet the European rosters, so expect full rundowns the rest of the way.

Coming up after the jump, a look at the stats through two days, as well as the line starting line combinations from each game.

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