Asunto: USA U-18 Team

Charles Baumgarten and Steve Pruett from the U18 team are both available to make a bid on to have them put on the market for relatively reasonable prices (20m and 16m respectively). Their current team has sub-optimal facilities, but I'm worried they could easily go to a team with worse facilities. Both need to be improved in terms of training, so it would be important that they go to a team that actively pays attention to their training, and there is a risk that they wouldn't.

I'm tempted to make a bid, but I'm horrible at remembering to show up at the deadline and usually don't win unless I significantly overbid or use the market agent. Pruett's development is important because he is a center which is an area of weakness for the team. Baumgarten, with the right training, will be one of the star players for next season's U18 team, starting the season just short of 1,000 OR which is elite for the U18 team.

Is there anyone with good facilities (training/regeneration 14-15) that would be interested in trying to bid on them?

I'm selling my draft pick Sal Landers who I think has a good chance to make the U- national teams, though I'm not sure about the senior team.

I agree that he'd make the U18 and U20 teams. He's not a world class talent, but he's an above average national team caliber talent who could be as good as the 3rd best defenseman in his year depending on his development and the relative depth of his year. Whether he makes the senior team depends on whether he gets lucky in terms of CL.

I don't have room for him on my team though. He'll need to end up on a team with elite facilities to fulfill his potential.

The United States won 2-1 today against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ukraine beat Belarus 1-0, and Germany beat Italy 4-3 in overtime. The United States currently holds 1st place with a GF tiebreaker over Ukraine.

Tomorrow the United States plays the other team with 3 points (which also looks like one of the most winnable, if only by a little, games of the preliminary round. Germany is the strongest team in the group, but the United States doesn't have to worry about them until the final game of the round. It is my goal to avoid having to rely on that game to clinch the playoffs. It would be ideal to avoid having to face Germany in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Most teams from the other group look beatable with Slovenia looking like the strongest potential playoff opponent at the moment.

The team isn't the strongest team, but it's probably good enough to get the job done. The 4th line is a bit weak overall. Shooting is a major weakness throughout the lineup. Goaltending is fairly good and defense is solid as usual.

Good work! It'll be awesome if we can make the playoffs.

Congrats man

Thanks everyone!

The United States ended up beating Ukraine 4-0 and Italy 1-0, putting the United States in sole possession of 1st place after 3 games. We've pretty much clinched the playoffs unless Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina both win their remaining two games in regulation and pass the U.S. in GD, Belarus gets at least 3/6 remaining points and passes the U.S. in GD, and Germany gets at least 4/6 remaining points and passes the U.S. in GD. A single point by the United States or Italy in the remaining two games would guarantee the U.S. makes the playoffs. Italy looks stronger than both Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina at the moment.

Going forward, my main goal is to avoid Slovenia in the first round of the playoffs. Since Belarus and Germany look like the strongest teams in Group 1 and should finish top 3, finishing #2 would be ideal for setting up a winnable second round match.

I've not had to resort to playing three lines in the preliminary round so far, and likely won't need to for the remainder of the round.

The United States will have to play without Mikey Banks for the remainder of the World Championships. He has the 6th highest OR on the team, however, he has the 3rd highest OR among LD's, and the 4th line LD should be able to cover for him adequately.

Today the U.S. plays Belarus. The main goal for today is to maximize GD going into the final game of the preliminary round against Germany tomorrow.

Sam Cuellar has given up 1 goal on 72 shots in 3 games giving him a .33 GAA and .9861 SV%. I'm going to rest him for the rest of the round to preserve him for the playoffs.

Congrats, and good luck going forward!

The United States lost today to Germany 3-4 in the final game of the preliminary round in a game that didn't really matter, falling to 3rd place. This is actually the ideal outcome though. If the United States won, then Slovenia would be the first round opponent or else Germany could be the second round opponent. With the way things turned out, the United States will avoid the two strongest teams from group 1, Italy and Germany, until the finals (making the finals is the requirement for promotion). The United States also avoid the 2 strongest group 2 teams (Slovenia and to a lesser extent Serbia). Belgium, the first round opponent, is the best possible first round opponent.

Of course, the United States is a bit weak this season, so a win is far from guaranteed. Even with a strong advantage, absurd upsets are far from uncommon. That's basically what happened to the United States last season in the first round of the playoffs (the United States has also beaten much stronger teams in the top division at times). With that said, I've played on very low for the last 2 games of the preliminary round and rested Sam Cuellar who has been sensational so far. Italy is also well rested. Germany and Belarus rested to some extent but much less than the U.S. None of the group 2 teams are particularly well rested. Belgium in particular played every period on high.

In any case, tomorrow the United States will play Belgium, and with some luck, the United States will play Austria or Belarus in two days for promotion.

That would be wonderful; good news, and good luck!

The United States won 2-1 against Belgium today in a game that was a bit closer than I would have liked. Cuellar has now only given up 2 goals in 4 games.

The United States will play Belarus who beat Austria 1-0 today. Austria would have been an easier opponent, but the United States is about evenly matched with Belarus (who beat the United States by 1 goal in the preliminary round when Cuellar was resting and the team was playing on very low). On the other side, Serbia upset Italy, and Germany beat Slovenia. For some reason, Slovenia frequently seems to be one of the best teams in division II but ends up losing in the playoffs.

With a win tomorrow, the United States will return to the top division. I'd like to promote now since 2 strong top division caliber teams seem like they will be competing in division I next season.

Sam Cuellar striked again and carried the United States back to the top division with a 2-0 shutout of Belarus! Blankenship and Garfield scored for the United States.

Over the course of 7 games, Blankenship leads the team with 4 goals and Mecier leads the team in points and assists (tied) with 6 points (3 goals and 3 assists). Godfrey leads in defenseman scoring with 3 points (also 3 assists). Goodman, Mecier, and Godfrey are tied for the lead in +/- at 5. Cuellar leads the tournament in SV% at .9858 SV%, in GAA at .4 GAA, in shutouts with 3 shutouts, and in 3 star selections with 5 in 5 games. He's only given up 2 goals in 5 games.

The United States will play Serbia for the Championship tomorrow. Whether the United States wins or loses, it will return to the top division next season. The match will matter most in helping the United States' ranking which plays a role in improving the odds that the team will get placed into a group with better matchups. Germany is a team that the United States has struggled against historically and looks stronger on paper, so the matchup against Serbia is ideal, though it still won't be an easy match. The United States has slightly stronger offense and defense, much stronger goaltending, and much weaker shooting (this is really something that needs to be improved upon next season - I'll need to do a better job of asking managers to improve shooting to 75%-100%).

Congratulations on your victory. Your goalkeeper is holy. Good luck in the final

Thanks and good luck to Belarus next season! Hopefully we see you back in the top division in the near future! Our goalkeeper has definitely far exceeded my expectations at the right time.