Asunto: USA U-20 Team

Great job!

I'm thinking about putting together a bid to host the World Championships this year. I have a logo, but don't yet have a mascot. Is there anyone else who would be interested in being a part of the organizing committee (especially if you have a past mascot or the graphic design know-how to make one)? Alternatively, is there anyone who has put a bid in previously who has a USA mascot they would be willing to let me use?

I support what you're doing, but I am terrible with graphics. Hopefully someone comes along!

hello

I have scouted GKs of your National Team
Just a question, do you think my young GK Neveu will be on roster for World Championship, back up for Ernest Golden ?

Thanks

Most of the teams have, or are about to, wrap up their playoff runs, so our boys are showing up for the World Championships! Since we won the bid to host this year, they don't need to travel far, and we are looking forward to defending our home country! I know last time we made Division I, we were relegated the first season, so we are hoping to make some more noise this year.

RW Muhammad Sierra is going to lead us as captain. After serving in a depth role on last year's first place U20 team, his is poised to be one of our top players. Defenseman Eldridge Miles will serve as one of the alternates. After only dressing due to an injury in last year's tournament, he surprised everyone by registering several points, and is a veteran of 16 world championship games at the U20 and U18 level. The other alternate will be winger Kenny Hetherington, who will be playing in his first U20 tournament but has experience at the U18 level. Our top goalie with be Ernest Golden, who has backstopped 4 world championship games at the U18 level. I also wanted to note that defenseman Shawn Salisbury will not be able to join the team due to a broken ankle. Shawn was a strong performer on our friendly schedule this year, and was looking forward to being a part of the team at the World Championship. We know he is disappointed but will be cheering his teammates on.

As always, thank you all for giving me the opportunity to coach our team, and for developing the players that fill out the roster. Hope we do you proud!

good luck buddy

As always, I want to try to give a recap so you can see how your players did in case you didn't follow the games. We started our tournament with a 7-2 loss to Croatia where we were never very competitive. We then lost a heartbreaker to Brazil 4-2. After falling behind 3-1, Robbie Middleton scored to bring us within 1 with 5 minutes to play (logging his second point of the game) before we surrendered an empty netter while we pushed for the equalizer.

The highlight of our tournament was probably the 4-2 win over eventual semi-finalist Italy. Special teams were huge as none of our goals came five on five (2 on the powerplay, 1 shorthanded, and 1 into an empty net). Defenseman Matt Bradley recorded 2 points, including the eventual game winning goal on the powerplay.

We then got pretty thoroughly outplayed in a 3-1 loss to Romania, but Ernest Golden kept us in the game by stopping 34 of 37 shots.

This set up an interesting situation. We entered our last game of pool play needing to win in regulation, Italy to lose in regulation, and to make up a 10-goal deficit in goal differential with Italy in order to make the quarterfinals. Our boys did their part as we exploded for a 9-0 win against Belgium, so an Italian regulation loss in any amount would have seen us advance, but unfortunately the Italians pulled off the win. After the top line carried us most of the tournament, 6 of the 9 goals were scored by second and third line players, including a 2 goal-1 assist game by Howard Barbee, 1 goal and 2 assists by Gil Cummings, and 2 goals by Pascale Martin.

This left us where we didn't want to be: fighting to avoid relegation. Belgium also was in the relegation round, so we got credit for the 9-0 win against them. It looked like we would cruise against Denmark when we jumpted out to a 3-0 lead in the first ten minutes. But, Denmark gave us a scare outshooting us 35-21 while erasing a three-goal deficit before we scored the game winner in the third to win 4-3. The fourth line provided the only two even strength goals, with Arch Purcell and Curtis Baddour both logging one goal and one assist. This game, paired with Lithuania's win, secured our safety from relegation, and meant that the final game against Lithuania was just to determine who finished 9th and 10th. We lost that game 4-3, dropping us to 10th.

There were some top performers who helped us earn a spot in Division 1 for next season. Centers Robbie Middleton and Pascale Martin both finished with 6 points (4 goals and 2 assists each). Curtis Baddour surprised after spending most of the tournament as a healthy scratch, scoring 4 points in the last 3 games as a fourth line center. Matt Bradley and Alternate Captain Eldridge Miles both scored four points from the blueline. Ernest Golden recorded a shutout and stopped 92.35 percent of his shots faced in net.

Obviously, we hoped to make the playoffs and promote to the Top Division. That said, we achieved my goal of avoiding the relegation that happened the last time we made Division I. My main goal is hoping to improve and make the quarterfinals next year and continue marching towards competing for promotion. Thanks for your support and for letting me borrow your players.

good luck buddy

We are coming up on the World Championships, and have a strong team that I am looking forward to coaching. Pending any last minute injuries (and, knock on wood, unlike the last two years the team is all healthy right now) we have our 28-man roster named and players are arriving as their league playoffs wrap-up.

Winger Ross Ruby is going to serve as team captain. Ruby logged 5 points (2G-3A) with us in the World Championships last year, and also has registered 6 points (4G-2A) in World Championship play with the U18 team. First line left winger Robin Crocker, who has recorded 4 points (1G-3A) in World Championship games at the U18 and U20 levels, will serve as an alternate captain. The other alternate captain will be right winger Arch Purcell, who had 4 points (1G-3A) with the U20 team at last year's World Championships and 7 points (4G-3A) during World Championship games with the U18 program.

Felix "Goal Buster" Neveau will be our starting netminder. Neveau only made one relief appearance at last year's U20 World Championships, but managed to record a shutout and a save percentage greater than 90% in 7 World Championship Games with the U18 team.

Thank you for developing these great players, hopefully USA can put together a strong showing.

Good Luck and give em hell!

Time for this year's recap. We had a strong showing in the Division I World Championships. We lost our semifinal in overtime, missing out on promotion by one goal, and then bounced back to win the 3rd place game. Proud of our boys because finishing third in Division I is their highest finish since being relegated from the top division 11 years ago.

Our first game was a 3-1 win over Argentina. We were in control most of the game, building a 3-0 lead until Argentina scored in the last two minutes. This effort was led by our second line, with Milton Young and Lonnie Bierlein recording a goal and an assist each.

We followed this performance up with a 3-1 win over Italy. Ross Ruby scored the go-ahead goal with six minutes left, prior to us sealing the deal with an empty netter. The top line produced most of our offense, with Ethan Alderman and Chris Garcia each getting a goal and an assist, and Felix "Goal Buster" Neveau stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced.

We moved to 3-0 (and clinched a spot in the playoffs) with a 4-3 win over Brazil. Ross Ruby and Ed O'Rourke each scored a pair of goals, and Milton Young added 2 assists.

Clinching as early as we did gave us a chance to relax a bit, give the starting goalie a rest, and empty the bench. We lost 5-2 to Austria and 6-0 to Ukraine to finish pool play 3-2 and second in our pool.

We beat Croatia 3-2 in the quarterfinal game. Ross Ruby led the way with a pair of goals, and Chris Garcia also scored.

This set up a semifinal against Belarus where the winner would both advance to the championship game and earn promotion to the top division. This game was an instant classic that, unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of. A second period Ross Ruby goal held up until the last minute of regulation, when Belarus pulled the goalie and tied the game with the extra attacker, and went on to win in overtime. Candidly, Belarus outplayed us, and outshot us 36-16. That said, Felix Neveau gave us a chance to win, stopping 34 of the first 35 shots before Belarus scored the game winner.

We bounced back in the 3rd place game, beating Lithuania 3-2, led by another multi-point outing from Milton Young with a goal and an assist.

In terms of overall performance, Milton Young tied for the most points in the tournament, logging 2 goals and 8 assists for a total of 10 points in 8 games. Captain Ross Ruby was our leading goal scorer with 6 goals, and added 2 assists for 8 total points. Felix "Goal Buster" Neveau was phenomenal in net for us, posting a 93.08 save percentage and 1.81 goals against average.

As always, thanks for giving me the opportunity to coach these talented players, and thanks for drafting, signing, and developing the players so that USA can continue to have strong showings in international play.

It's time again. Most of our players are done with their competitive seasons and eager to get going at the World Championships. We are hungry and hoping to finally promote back to the Top Division. I know I'm optimistic every year, but I sincerely think this is the strongest team we have had during my tenure as manager. You all have developed a deep set of 20 year olds, with some very talented 19 year olds sprinkled in. This is a credit to your drafting, sports academies, and player development.

We are led by a core of returning players from last year's third place team. The team will be captained by right winger Chris Garcia. He had 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) at last year's U20 World Championship, and when he was with the U18 team, registered 16 points in 16 World Championship games.

Defenseman Craig Neely will serve as one of our alternate captains. Neely played 8 games of solid defense and added an assist at last year's U20 World Championship, and has 5 points in 7 career U18 World Championship games.

Left Winger Stephen Schroeder will be the other alternate captain. He played all 8 games with last year's U20 World Championship team, and has 2 points in 14 career U18 World Championship games.

Our starting goalie will be Carl Majors, who posted an 89.33% save percentage in 2 appearances at last year's U20 World Championship, and has a shutout, 92.41% save percentage, and a sub-2 goals against average in 6 appearances at the U18 World Championships.

As always, I appreciate the opportunity to coach your players and hope to do you proud.

I wish you luck.

I have good news! We won Division I so next year, after an 11 year absence, we will be back in the Top Division! This is a testament to the great young players you have all developed. Since I know not everyone has the time to follow the international teams, as I do every year, I want to give you a summary of our games and highlight some of the standout performances.

Our first game against Croatia was a strange one. Despite outshooting them 50-19, we never led and entered the third period trailing 4-2. Fortunately, Captain Chris Garcia scored 2 third period goals, including the tying goal with under 3 minutes to play, before right winger Mario Mathis netted the overtime winner to lift us to a 5-4 OT victory. Third line center Omar Gnaw added a goal and an assist.

Game two against Italy was smoother sailing as we dominated in a 5-1 victory. Garcia scored 2 more goals, and the second line was clicking with left winger Herb Coats adding 2 goals and center Homer Clark registering 3 assists.

Perhaps coasting too high on our first two wins, we had a rough go of it against Romania. I did not have a good game plan in place, and the team played like they were buying their own hype. There weren't many bright spots as we lost 9-2 and were outshot 38-16.

Fortunately, we bounced back, clinching a spot in the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win over Latvia. Top line left winger Nathan Springer scored to give us an early 1-0 lead. Mitchell Bartlett, who started the tournament as a healthy scratch, scored the game winner.

In the last game of pool play, we locked up the second seed from our group with a 5-3 win over Turkey. Top line center Dick Calhoun scored 2 goals, Clark added a goal and an assist, and Garcia had a pair of assists. After falling behind 3-1 in the first, we made a change in net, and third-string goalie Mike Martel stopped all 16 shots he faced to give us a chance to get back in the game.

We had a strong quarterfinal performance against Spain, winning 7-2 and outshooting the Spanish team 45-21. The whole top forward line was clicking, with Calhoun scoring a goal and recording 3 assists, Garcia scoring 2 goals and an assist, and Springer notching a goal and 2 assists.

The semifinal game was an instant classic against Brazil. Goalie Carl Majors stopped 23 of 24 of shots as we played to a 1-1 after regulation and a 5 minute overtime, then stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout. Mario Mathis scored the lone goal in the shootout to earn promotion to the Top Division and a spot in the championship game.

The championship against Germany was another great game, with Majors stopping 31 of 32 shots to set us up for a come from behind 2-1 victory with Gnaw scoring the winning goal.

It was a solid performance all around, but there were some standout players for us in the tournament. Calhoun (3G-9A-12P) led the tournament in both points and assists, and Garcia (6G-5A-11P) tied for the most goals in the tournament and was second in points only to his linemate. Defenseman Nigel Carmichael's 5 points tied him for fourth among defensemen in the tournament. Chad Reetz had a breakout performance, as the defenseman was not in the starting lineup at the beginning of the tournament, but logged 3 points in only 4 games as a fourth line defensemen. Goaltending was a little rocky during parts of pool play, but the championship wouldn't have happened had Majors not stopped 54 out of 56 shots (plus the three shootout attempts) in the matching 2-1 victories in the semifinal and championship games.

Thanks for trusting me with the team, and developing the players that made this happen. I'm running for reelection, and hope to get the chance to coach next year's team in the Top Division!

Outstanding work!