Subject: USA U-18 Team

It seems that I never finished introducing the roster. Continuing with the LD's:

1) Richard Jacob (The Norwegian AssKickers - Norway I.1/Carolina Cobras): I managed to save Jacob just before the Carolina Cobras went defunct. He has improved very well since joining his new team. He has almost perfect qualities and is the best LD this year. He is part of defense that is significantly improved from last season. He also has good offensive ability.

2) Major Baron (ICED EARTH EAGLES - Netherlands I.1/Whaleforever-II.2): another player originally from II.2 now playing on a good foreign team. He probably has the best name on the team. He also has nearly perfect qualities and is basically the same as Jacob. He also has offensive ability.

3) Woody Pierre (Salt Lake Karma Police - II.3): Pierre is another really strong defensive, only slightly behind Baron and Jacob. He is another player from the Salt Lake Karma Police who have provided quite a few national team caliber players over the past two seasons. He also has great experience. He also has good offensive ability. If Pierre was 18 last year, he would have been the 2nd best defender on the team, but he is the 3rd best LD on this year's team.

4) Hector Atwater (Psychos - I.1): Atwater is very good for a fourth liner. Even this year's fourth line LD would have been one of the best defenders on last year's team. Atwater is another player with good experience, offensive ability, and qualities. He is another prospect from the Psychos, who seem to produce a ton of high quality prospects.

5) Earl Tacey (Psychos - I.1): Tacey is the 5th string LD and will sit on the bench for the World Championships. He is good enough that the defense would not take much of a hit if he was forced to substitute for someone.

6) Clint Craven (Boilermakers - I.1): Craven is one of the best LD prospect and will start next year. He has great OR for his age and would have been a starter last season. He comes from the Boilermakers who have emerged as one of the leading producers of high quality prospects, helping to lessen the loss of the High Hitterz's sports academy.

7) Matthew Valadez (Psychos - I.1): Valadez is another great LD prospect, basically a clone of Craven except for having weaker CL.

8) Vernon Freed (Esbjerg Sailors - Denmark II.3/Razorback Thugs - I.1): Freed projects to be the best LD in season 19. He has good experience. He might have have been a borderline starter as a 16 year old in past years with weak defensive depth.

Continuing with the RD's:

1) Jordy Knapp (Psychos - I.1): Knapp was on the first line of last year's team. Even though all of the defenders are much better this year, he's still by far better than any other defender on this year's team. He has great qualities and experience, though his CL has unfortunately fallen. He can also contribute on offense. Since he already has perfect chemistry, he will spend most of the preseason on the bench, but he will be back on the first line for the World Championshpis. Knapp, Dupuis, and Reif will all contribute to making the first line into one of the best in the tournament.

2) Dwayne Parks (Razorback Thugs - I.1): A lot of this year's key players are from the Razorback Thugs. Though playing in Knapp's shadow, Parks is a great defenseman. He has good experience and is strong offensively. He is also much better than the majority of the defenders from last year's team. Last year's defenders ended the season with an OR as good as the current OR of most of this year's starting defenders.

3) Nelson Touve (Boilermakers - I.1): Another strong defender helping to make even the third line strong on defense.

4) Dick Turner (Intelligent's of D.N.V. - Slovakia III.5/Irresistible Force): Though he might be better known for his name, Turner is very good for a fourth line defender. Even he would have been one of the best defenders on last year's team. He has good experience and qualities. Turner is the last prospect from the Irresistible Force sports academy to make the team. There is one more 17 year old, but he isn't good enough to make the team next year.

5) Wilber Barker (Boilermakers - I.1/High Hitterz): Barker is the 5th best RD as well as the best RD prospect. He was saved last season from the High Hitterz before they went defunct, and he ended up staying in I.1 in the United States with the Boilermakers. Barker will sit on the bench during the World Championships. He also would have been a starter last season.

6) Bob Brownlee (STL Saints - I.1): Brownlee is a great offensive defenseman from the STL Saints who will be a starter next season.

7) William Burks (Boilermakers - I.1): Burks is an incredible 16 year old prospect. He is better than all of the 17 year old RD's not already on the team and took the second slot for 17 year old RD prospects. He might have been a starter as a 16 year old in past seasons with weak defensive depth. He has great qualities and good shooting. He will very likely start next season as a 17 year old and be extremely good as a first line 18 year old in 2 season.

8) Perry Mead (The Faketown Fakemascots - I.1): Mead is the next best 16 year old RD prospect. He is an offensive defenseman. He will be a starter in 2 seasons.

Continuing with the C's:

1) Sheldon Dupuis (Psychos - I.1): Dupuis is one the best players to play on the U18 team, other than Lance. He was the second line center, behind Lance, last season. He has great shooting for a center and great experience. Since he has perfect chemistry already, he will sit for most of the preseason but will start again for the World Championships. He is probably a lock to make the senior team at some point, though it is disappointing that his CL has fallen a bit.

2) Dwight Kreger (Razorback Thugs - I.1): Kreger is one of the best players on this year's team. He is an offensively oriented center. Davis and Ferrara should benefit from playing next to him in the scoring department. He also has great experience and qualities. There is generally a bit of a dropoff in offens after the first line, but Kreger will help to make the second line dangerous as well.

3) Eddie Carrigan (STL Saints - I.1): Carrigan is very good for a third line center. He also has good shooting. Usually, even if the third line and fourth line centers are decent, they have had bad shooting in the past. He has mostly great qualities.

4) Jorge Baughman (Razorback Thugs - I.1): Baughman is another offensive oriented center. He has great qualities and experience. He is also relatively good compared to fourth line centers in the past.

5) Maurice Herbster (Westchester Red Wings - I.1): Herbster is the 5th string center and will sit on the bench for the World Championships. The Westchester Red Wings are among the top contributers to this year's team.

6) Richard Milton (Black Owls - Czech Republic IV.30/the pirates - II.4): Milton projects to be the first line center next season. Though Pruet is as good as Milton, Milton has great experience and is starting for his team. Like Barker on defense, Milton is a beneficiary of Dupuis and Knapp sitting on the bench. Milton and Barker will have great chemistry to start next season and should have perfect chemistry for next season's World Championships.

7) Herbert Pruett (Boilermakers - I.1): Pruett is one of the best 17 year olds centers. He is about as good as Milton but without the extra experience. He has great qualities. He will be a very good player for next year's team on the second or possibly first line.

8) Michael Richardson (SC SSK Slezska Ostrava - Czech Republic II.3/Cold Mountain Freeze - II.1): Richardson was developed by the Cold Mountain Freeze and sold for a ransom last season. He is now starting for his team in the Czech Republic. He already has great experience. His qualities are nearly perfect and he still has perfect CL. He is the best 16 year old C prospect and has great OR for his age. He might even have a chance to start next season.

Continuing with the LW's:

1) Jonas Cliff (Razorback Thugs - I.1): Cliff is the first line LW this year. For some reason, LW has continued to be one of the weaker positions in the United States. All of the LW's this year are very good, though there are none of Dupuis'/Reif's caliber to fill out the first line. Cliff is another key player from the Razorback Thugs. He has great experience.

2) Emerson Ferrara (Westchester Red Wings - I.1): Ferrara is the second line LW. He has good experience and can shift to the right side if necessary.

3) Maximo Greer (Spirit Crushers - I.1): Greer is a good LW for the third line. I believe he is the first player that I remember selecting from the Spirit Crushers to start for the U18 team. He also has good experience.

4) Alex Campbell (Westchester Red Wings - I.1): Campbell is a good LW for the fourth line. He has some great qualities and will help to make the fourth line a scoring threat next to Baughman.

5) Brian Baldwin (Salt Lake Karma Police): Baldwin is the 5th string LW at the moment. He will sit on the bench for the World Championships. He is just as good as Campbell with better experience. He seems to have caught up since the start of the season. Since Campbell has better chemistry and qualities, I will probably leave Campbell as the fourth line LW.

6) Nick Holt (STL Saints - I.1): Holt is the best 17 year old LW prospect from the STL Saints, who have also contributed a few good players this season. Along with Ty Shorter from the same team, he will be one of the stars of next season's team on the first line.

7) Edwin Flores (Westchester Red Wings - I.1): Flores is another great 17 year old LW prospect and will start for next season's team.

8) Sam Rhoads (Boilermakers - I.1): Although the Boilermakers have a lot of players on this year's team, most of them are prospects. Next year, a large proportion of the starters will be from the Boilermakers. Rhoads is another great 16 year old prospect from the Boilermakers. He has great qualities and OR for his age. He might have a chance to start next season.

Finally, the RW's:

1) Johnny Reif (Invincible KLH Vajgar - IV.17/Detroit Red Wings - III.7): Reif is one of the stars of this year's team and will help to make the first line one of the best first lines in the tournament once his chemistry catches up. He was almost good enough to start last season. He is currently on the market and has a chance to return to the United States. He has nearly perfect qualities and good experience. He is another strong candidate for the senior national team in a few seasons.

2) Rodney Davis ( The Faketown Fakemascots): Davis is a solid RW on the second line of this year's team.

3) Gus Stratton (Colorado Avalanche(R) - Slovakia II.3/HC Sterling Cheetahs - I.1): Stratton is a shootout specialist; he has the best shooting on the team at the moment. He will be a great contributor to the third line (though I may consider moving him up to the second line). He also has great experience and great qualities. His team has had the most players on the U18 team over the last few seasons out of all the foreign teams. Fellows and Staton from the same team are on the senior team as 21 year olds.

4) Ty Shorter (STL Saints - I.1): Shorter is the only 17 year old starting on this year's team for the World Championships (barring injuries). He will be one of the stars of next season's team alongside Holt on the "STL Saints line." As a 17 year old, he has better OR than most 18 year old starters usually have.

5) Marlin Brenner (HCD Crackers - I.1): Brenner is the 5th string RW. He will sit on the bench for the World Championships. He has great experience.

6) James Zehnder (Boilermakers - I.1): Zehnder is another great prospect from the Boilermakers. He might have been a starter in seasons where there was weaker depth. He will start next season.

7) Levar Jones (Salt Lake Karma Police - II.3): Jones is another great 17 year old prospect. He will start on the second or third line next season.

8) Theo Timmons (Psychos - I.1): Timmons is a the best 16 year old RW prospect. He has a longshot of starting next season. He is another great prospect from the Psychos. It seems th at this season's team has been dominated by a few teams in I.1, though teams like the Westchester Red Wings and the Boilermakers have joined the Pscyhos, Razorback Thugs, STL Saints, and Salt Lake Karma Police as the top producers of talent for the U18 team. Hopefully even more teams will join the top producers next season as the U18 team continues to get stronger.

Just a reminder to try to find an opportunity to run your camps (if you have a starter on the U18 team) before the World Championships if possible.

The United States lost to Norway last week. A handful of starters were out of the lineup for camp and for chemistry reasons. The United States managed to win the tactics battle, but Norway broke the tie with 2 goals in the last 3 minutes or so. Norway seems to have a great offense this season.

Next week, the United States will play Slovakia. The United States won in a shootout 3 weeks ago.

The contest is still ongoing. So far, there has only been one entry for the logo and mascot (I can only add an organizer once though). The website has already been chosen. Feel free to make a submission. You can find the original post under the national news.

Also, it would be great if more teams have a chance at some point to run a camp or two before the World Championships.

My boys are in camp this week!

Thanks for the heads up and for getting your players into camp early! It's going to be challenging without a lot of key players against Slovakia this week though.

I guess I will put Dupuis and Knapp back in the lineup this week. I might also experiment with playing three lines to see how much of an effect it has on chemistry gain.

Camp. And as always, thanks for all of your hard work. I enjoy reading your write ups on the players.

Yes, thanks for all your hard work and dedication. The communication is great!

The boys are back from camp. Use them as you see fit.

Thank you to everyone who ran a camp last week!

The United States gave up a goal in the last minute, losing to Slovakia last week despite being badly outshot.

Today, the United States will play Denmark, this time with a full lineup.

The contest for the bid is still ongoing in case anyone wants to make a contribution. Remember that the winners who are named as the organizers, if the United States wins and nothing has changed since last time, each get 100 credits from PPM.

Last week, the United States beat Denmark, who is in the same group in the World Champonships, 2-1. The United States took a 2 goal lead early and sat on it until the end of the game. Special teams were a non-factor, though the United States failed to convert on 7 chances.

The United States will play the U20 Turkey team on Saturday. It is not impossible for the United States to win.

Please run your camps before the World Championships, if possible, if you haven't already done so.

Finally, I will still accept submissions for the contest for the bid for 10 more days. This is an opportunity to perhaps win 100 credits by making a logo or mascot.