Předmět: USA U-20 Team

Sorry I'm late getting it out, but here is my annual recap of the World Championships. Our team played well, finishing third in the Division I tournament, falling one game short of promoting to the Top Division, but safely above the relegation threshhold.

Our first game was a heartbreaker, as we outshot Norway 33-23, but couldn't overcome three first period goals by Norway and fell 4-2. Team captain Clayton "Speedy" Gonzalez was a part of both of our goals, registering a goal and an assist.

We bounced back strong, pulling off a 5-3 upset win over Bulgaria. The second line was instrumental, with center Tayler Douglas scoring a goal and two assists, and winger Cobi Lawrence adding a goal and an assist. Defenseman and powerplay specialist Gordon Farmer added a goal and an assist, both on the powerplay.

After a rocky first couple of games, Jordan Mann came up huge against Denmark, stopping 34 of 36 shots on the way to a 4-2 win in a game where we were severely outshot. Winger Will Payne contributed a goal and an assist.

In our next game, we fell to Portugal 4-3 in a shootout. A shorthanded goal by winger Mick Stinson helped us get to overtime, and the one point we got for that ended up being crucial in our seeding.

We entered the last game of the preliminary round without a playoff spot secured, but beat Slovenia 2-1 behind another stellar performance in goal by Mann, as he stopped 31 of 32 shots. Speedy Gonzalez was involved in both goals, recording another goal and an assist, with Payne adding a powerplay tally.

This secured us the second seed from our group entering the playoffs. We emerged victorious in a quarterfinal matchup against rival Canada. Defenseman Walter Gonzalez, playing in his first game of the tournament after serving as a healthy scratch through the preliminary round, scored in the first period to give us a 1-0 lead, and Payne scored what ended up being the ultimate game winner in a 2-1 game.

This set the stage for a semifinal match, with promotion on the line, against Romania. Unfortunately, Romania scored three first period goals and sailed to a 4-1 victory, keeping us out of the title game and promotion to the Top Division.

Despite the disappointment against Romania, our boys showed up big time for the consolation game against Ukraine. Mann was excellent in net yet again, stopping 32 or 33 shots. Our top line center, Les Perez, scored a goal and an assist, and heled us win 3-1, securing third place.

Despite not getting to promotion, I think this was a successful tournament. I'm looking forward to next year, and getting to the championship game and promoting to the Top Division is our goal. As always, thanks for the opportunity to coach and for giving me such a great group of players to work with.