Subject: USA U-18 Team

Line 1:

LW: Sam Rhoads (Boilermakers - I.1): Rhoads got some playing time with last season's and is the sort of elite caliber caliber forward that is necessary to have a chance of being competitive in the top division at 1,057 OR with great qualities and some experience. The Boilermakers, who have always had at least a few players worth considering for that national team, have emerged as one of the premier developers of national team caliber talent over the past few seasons. I will eventually rest him to play Marks during the exhibition since he has high chemistry and Marks is the best 17 year old LW prospect as well as the 5th best LW this season (including UW's). The depth of pure LW's this season is extremely weak, though there are enough strong UW's to fill in the 4 starting lines.

C: Michael Richardson (SC SSK Slezska Ostrava - Czech IV.23/Cold Mountain Freeze - I.1): Michael Richardson has it all - elite OR, amazing qualities, great shooting for a center, and even great experience. He's even good for the penalty kill. Richardson is a lot like Milton from last season, but better. I would bet on him being of interest to the senior national team. Richardson is the first player to make the team from the Cold Mountain Freeze, which is making its debut in I.1 this season. He is a starter for his team in the Czech Republic.

RW: Theo Timmons (Psychos - I.1): The Psychos always seem to have a handful of strong contributions to make to the team every season. Timmons also has the sort of attributes necessary from a first line forward. Overall, the United States has a full first line of great players, which is not always the case. Timmons was joined the team last season.

LD: Vernon Freed (Esbjerg Sailors - Denmark I.1/Razorback Thugs - I.1): Vernon doesn't have quite as high OR as his line mates, but he makes up for it in experience and chemistry and is otherwise a solid defender. I am currently resting him to give experience to next season's likely starting LD (also the 5th best LD this season). Vernon is a starter for his team in Denmark.

RD: William Burks (Boilermakers - I.1): Burks is another elite player from the Boilermakers. He got a lot of playing time with last season's team and will also rest during most of the exhibitions to start the best RD prospect, who is also going to be the 5th best RD for the World Championships. Burks is by far the best defenseman on the team. He also has good discipline, good offensive ability, and good experience. The depth of offensive defensemen this season is the best that I have ever seen, starting with Burks. In the past, it has been hard to find 4 defensemen on each side that were decent. The depth has been improving over the last few season so that I haven't had to add any 600-700 OR defensemen or start 17 year olds who weren't ready. The sixth string defenders this season could probably have been second or third liners in past seasons.

Line 2:

LW: Vernon Brenner (Boilermakers - I.1): Brenner another member of the Boilermakers class. He is a solid second line caliber player.

C: Rakeem Cianek (Spirit Crushers - I.1): Cianek is the best player from the Spirit Crushers in a while. As a center, he is about the same as Richardson, though he lacks the offensive ability and experience. Even so, he is another solid second line caliber player. Overall, it looks like there are enough second line caliber players to fill out the second line this season.

RW: Craig McPherson (GoldFish - I.1): while he probably won't have a chance at the senior team due to his CL, he is another solid second line caliber player for the U18 and U20 teams.

LD: (Darwin Medley - Kobanya68/STL Saints - I.1): Due to his great attributes and offensive ability I had planned to make Medley the second line LD, but he might move back to the third line due to having a long injury and ending up on a team with weaker training facilities. Even so, even with the added 4/6 CL, Medley is still a solid second line caliber defensemen and contributes to the great depth on defense this season.

RD: Perry Mead (Bouncing Pucks - I.1): Mead is another great defensemen, already with 1,000 OR. Depending on your views on how to train a defensemen, an argument could be made that he is about as good as Burks, minus the chemistry from last season. He is another defensemen with strong offensive ability. I think that the strong offensive ability of the defensemen is what puts this team over the top in shooting to give the United States the strongest shooting in its group. Mead is another player from the Bouncing Pucks, who like the Boilermakers have also recently emerged as one of the top producers of national team caliber talent (though they have usually had at least one player worth serious consideration).

Line 3:

LW: Ron Rubin (Westchester Red Wings - I.1): as I mentioned before, the depth of pure LW's is not very good this season. Rubin, who is great for a second or third line LW, was the only pure LW good enough to add as a starter this season. The second best pure LW was the 17 year old Marks, who will probably deserve to start on the first line next season and will join the team on the bench for the World Championships.

C: Raymundo Hatton (Bouncing Pucks - I.1): Hatton is another good second/third line caliber player. He is slightly weaker than Cianek but better offensively. I might consider switching Cianek and Hatton by the end of the season depending on how they compare at that ponit.

RW: Drew Doyle (ZZ's Crushers - Czech III.16/Bouncing Pucks - I.1): Doyle is another strong 2nd/3rd line caliber player. His CL might keep him from consideration for the senior team, but he will be a solid contributer to the U18 team and probably the U20 team. I think that this is the best class of prospects that the Bouncing Pucks/The Faketown Mascots have ever had while I have been with the team. Doyle plays on the same team as Scruggs in the Czech Republic.

LD: Edward Iler (HCD Crackers - I.1): Iler is a good offensive defenseman with experience. He is currently filling in on the second line due to injuries and chemistry substitutions.

RD: Phil Garrett (Lacky Star - Sweden II.1/Bouncing Pucks): Garrett is another second/third line caliber defensemen with great offensive ability. He could possibly switch with Medley. He is another player with 4 CL that should be an important part of the U18 and U20 teams. Due to his ability to play on both sides, he should be very useful in case of an injury. He is currently the first line LD due to injuries and chemistry substitutions.

Line 4:

LW: Verne Neely (Lueg Predators - Switzerland III.1/Medvescak Zagreb): Neely is a solid LW as a 17 year old and will be the star RW on next season's team. He will be a 1,200 OR caliber player and will be one of the best players to play for the team since Lance. He has great qualities, experience, and shooting, as well as the ability to switch sides if needed. He is a starter on his team in Switzerland. I believe that he is the first player to make the team from Medvescak Zagreb).

C: Tony Hart (Psychos - I.1): Hart is very similar to Hatton and is very good for a fourth line center. That the fourth line center has 1,016 OR and great qualities tells you how good the depth at center tends to be (I often have to leave good centers in the high 800's off the team due to this depth).

RW: Claudio Braun (Salt Lake Karma Police - I.1): Braun is another player that is good enough to fill in on the second line on weaker teams. The Salt Lake Karma Police, who have returned to division I for the first time in a while, have contributed a lot of great players to the team from division over the past few seasons. Though there is only one starter from the team this season, there are a few great prospects from the team who will very likely start in the future.

LD: Dale Linton (Montana Miners - II.4): I had been planning to give the fourth line LD spot to Covington, but I decided to use Linton since the Montana Miners are rebuilding and Linton is a starter for his team and will gain a lot of experience. Linton is another great offensive defenseman who could have been a second or third liner in seasons with weaker depth on defense.

RD: Claude Shell (Montana Miners - II.4): I had been planning to give the fourth line RD spot to Lionel Brass, but Shell is better defensively and is another starter for the Montana Miners. Though Brass is stronger offensively, the team already has enough strong offensive defensemen.

Bench (for exhibitions):

The bench is comprised of the best 17 year olds that aren't already starting on the team so that they can get extra experience (it is more useful for the best 17 year olds than for the 5th string players that are unlikely to start during the World Championships due to low chemistry).

LW: Ted Marks (KKS Lech - Poland III.15/Detroit Red Wings - II.3): Marks is the best 17 year old LW and the second best pure LW this season. He has good experience and is a starter for his team in Poland.

C: Julius Fountain (STL Saints - I.1): Fountain will be a very good center for next season's team, likely joined on the second line by his penalty killing teammate Godi.

RW: Donny Zamora (Salt Lake City Karma Police - I.1): Zamora looks like a good second line RW for next season. He will likely be joined by his teammate Coburn, and Spear will likely be on the bench for exhibitions as well.

LD: Kelly Langston (Psychos - I.1): the Psychos aren't as promently represented on the top lines as they have been in the past this season, but they will easily contribute both first line defensemen for next season's team. Langston is purely a defensive defensemen, but he is already as good defensively as the third and fourth line defensemen on this season's team. He is as good as Covington without the shooting, but he will probably remain on the bench for the World Championships since he is gaining chemistry as a chemistry substitute for next season. He should have at least 1,100 OR for next season's World Championships. Covington would easily have been a good third line defenseman in past seasons, but the depth on defense is just really good this season.

RD: Scott Isaksson (Psychos - I.1): Isaksson is the other great 17 year old defenseman from the Psychos. He is able to play on both sides as needed. He is pretty much the same as Langston in terms of ability and potential. Isaksson will stay with the team for the World Championships since he is gaining chemistry as a chemistry substitute, though like Covington, Brass has similar ability better shooting (and would be a third liner in past seasons).

Bench (for World Championships):

LW: Ted Marks (KKS Lech - Poland III.15/Detroit Red Wings - II.3).

C: Leonard Kitchen (HCD Crackers - I.1): Kitchen is good enough to start on the second or third line, but didn't get a spot as a starter due to the great depth at center. Clint Powell (who probably has slightly better long term potential) is also really close in ability to Kitchen and might get the spot if he can catch up by the end of the season. Both already have over 900 OR.

RW: Lee Novak (HC Washington AV - Slovakia II.3/ North Stars - defunct) is currently slotted as the 5th string RW for the World Championships. Lee Novak was a player that I added to prevent him from being retired when the North Stars went defunct. I always like to leave at least a few spots open to pick up a promising player from a team about to go defunct, and it seems to have paid off since both Novak and Woodson (the other player from the North Stars who I have added as an 18 year old as depth due to his good attributes and ability to play on both sides) have turned out to be useful depth for this season's team. With that in mind, please post in this thread: ppm.powerplaymanager.com/... if you notice a team with good players about to go inactive.

LD: Kelly Langston (Psychos - I.1).

RD: Scott Isaksson (Psychos - I.1).

Other 17 year olds:

I usually add the best 2 or so 17 year olds at each position who didn't already make the team as a starter.

RW: Pete Morris (Boilermakers - I.1): Morris will be a good third line RW next season.

LW: Josef Coburn (Salt Lake Karma Police - I.1): Coburn will be a good second line LW next season. At the moment, it looks like he will play alongside his teammate, RW Donny Zamora.

LW: Sean Bunn (Smuggling Grapes - I.1): Bunn is a promising LW with great shooting show might play on the third line next season.

C: Dewey Godi (STL Saints): Godi already has 800 OR as a 17 year old and has very good qualities. He switched from defense to center, so his positional OR is a bit lower than expected, but he will be a great second line center with an elite penalty killing ability.

LD: Otis Smith (HC Chopper Zizkov - Czech IV.28/HCD Crackers - I.1): a promising offensive LD with great experience from starting for his team in the Czech Republic. He is getting time on the bench for most exhibitions due to chemistry substitutions.

RD: Edgar Robles (Montana Miners - II.3): a promising RD. He is getting time on the bench for most exhibitions due to chemistry substitutions.

Finally, the best 16 year olds at each position currently scouted:

C: Val Taylor (Momentum - II.3): Taylor has the best EQ among scouted 16 year olds and OR already at about 600 OR. He is getting experience as a starter this season. This is the first player worth consideration for the U18 national team from my team. He probably won't get to start next season due to the usual depth at center, but he will be really good in two seasons.

C: Angel Berry (Bulls4ever Club - III.6): Angel Berry has great EQ and qualities for a 16 year old. He is also gaining experience as a starter. His EQ is a little less than Taylor's EQ, but he already has 29 experience as a 16 year old and is gaining experience fast playing at very hard. Between Taylor, Berry, and a very good center from the STL Saints, the center position is looking extremely promising in two seasons with elite contributions from non-elite teams. As more teams improve their facilities, more teams will be able to contribute, the pool of talent will improve, and the team will become stronger and be more likely to stick around and possible be competitive in the top division.



LW: Austin Blankenship (Bombsville Atomitcs - I.1); another promisign prospect with over 600 OR and good qualities as a 16 year old from the Bombsville Atomics.

RW: Hyrum Hammond (Psychos - I.1): a promising RW from the Psychos with good qualities, almost 600 OR, and the ability to play on both sides.

LD: Jim Spear (Salt Lake Karma Police - I.1): Spear was an A+ caliber player in his draft with 6/6 CL. His OR is a bit lower than the OR of the other best 16 year olds at the moment, but he has amazing qualities. There is another great LD from the Westchester Red Wings with better OR but slightly weaker qualities that will compete with Spear for the first line position in two seasons, giving the team good depth overall.

RD: Ronnie Brennan (Razorback Thugs - I.1): a promising RD prospect with already 621 OR from the Razorback Thugs.


There are two spots left open for players from teams about to go defunct.

The overall quality of the U18 team tends to switch from being very good one season and being a bit weaker the next, though the base quality of the pool of talent has improved overall over time. Overall, I think this season's team and the team in two seasons will be very strong. I thought last season's team was a bit weaker with only one elite caliber starter, though that team turned out to be the most successful national hockey team in the history of the United States so far on PPM with some luck

This season, the four teams in the division, including Serbia (a habitually strong team), Croatia (usually not as strong but last season's champion), and Poland (a strong team that struggled last season), are all about evenly matched in terms of players. They all have about the same distribution of top OR players, though Poland looks a bit stronger than the other teams. I doubt that the current team strengths are representative of the teams that will start (it defintiely isn't for the United States due to the chemistry substitutions), but the United States has the second highest current team strength, the best shooting, the second best offense, the weakest defense (though it is currently a bit underrepresented), and the third strongest goaltending (but comparable with all the other teams). I think the United States has a good chance at advancing past the first round and possibly repeating last season's performance, but it will be difficult, dependent on tactics and chance.

Awesomeness all around

Really nice writeup. It's kinda neat seeing how many players from my SA are on the team. I wish I could have kept more at home, but early CL drops means I have to show them the door since it doesn't make financial sense keeping around guys who will never start for me.

My good pulls have thinned out a bit, so I probably won't have nearly as much representation on future teams for several seasons at least.

I agree, it's cool seeing that at least one player from my SA has made the team almost since the beginning. Aside from Marks next season, unless a player on my team now is able to make the cut, I may have a small drought for a bit since I haven't pulled much outstanding talent. I've kept just a couple strong guys I wanted to use while I transitioned to an entire youth roster. My facilities are a little short of max and I haven't invested in elite staff yet, so I may be falling short for a couple seasons.

From the Bouncing Pucks, it looks like Arroyo (I prefer defenders with more technique, but I will still consider an especially strong defender with low technique) and Fedewa have a strong chance for next season. Dillon could have an outside chance of taking a spot if he passes a few players. O'Brien also looks very promising to make the team in one or two seasons.

From the Detroit Red Wings, in addition to Marks, Herndon also probably has a shot in two seasons depending on the LD depth.

I have most of the 17 year olds that could be interesting scouted, but I am still working on the 16 year olds. Even so, a 16 year old with nearly ~600+ OR and decent overall qualities and facilities at this point probably has a good chance.

Hopefully I can pull a couple more of talented players to torture this season playing very hard

Yeah, Arroyo's terrible Tec Q is unfortunate. I'm hoping his other stats will be good enough to make up for the extra penalties, but we'll see.