Subject: USA U-18 Team

Their U18 lineup. While the lineup they use for exhibitions might not perfectly representative of what it will look like in a few weeks, it should be close enough.

Okay, I'll post who I'm taking here later. Is it a month you need it by? Around?

The deadline is 4/29/16 for the teams other than Slovenia and Russia. The earliest that the United States could face Russia or Slovenia is 5/3/16, so 5/2/16 might be okay for them. I'd prefer to have a few extra days to sort through the information.

okay in a week or so I'll post who I can take. It will probably be only there first line if that. Go USA!

I got 12 of the Slovenia guys done. I'll start sending you there info soon.

Thank you to everyone who has been sending me scouting information. The first game is two weeks from yesterday.

I'm going to take this opportunity to introduce this season's lineup:

Goaltenders:
G1: Christopher Weigold
G2: Rollie Rubin
G3: Tate Skutt

Rollie Rubin (originally Boilermakers) was originally going to be the starter, but Tate Skutt (originally Bombsville Atomics) passed him after Rubin moved to a new team. Then Tate Skutt moved to a team with a level 9 training facility at the start of the season, and the former third string goaltender Weigold became the starter. It looks like I made the right choice as Weigold has recently passed Rubin, and Skutt has plummeted to third (though he's just barely good enough to hold onto the third spot for the World Championships). Even so, I would recommend Primo Christenson from the Detroit Red Wings over Tate Skutt next season, and possibly over Rubin as a 20 year old. The 5th choice was Curtis Smith, who is slightly behind Primo Christenson. I saved him from the Boilermakers last season, but there were better options as of the start of this season. Weigold is about as good as any other goaltender to play for the team in the past, with the exception of last season's duo.

Next season's starter:
Freddy Chambers
Chambers will be slightly better than Weigold next season and is the undisputed best option to start next season.

Season 25 starter?:
John Knight
Knight (originally from the Bombsville Atomics goaltending factory) was one of the top 2 15 year olds at the end of last season and the likely starter from his generation. He still has a lot of talent, but his training is a bit worrisome at this point.

Line 1:

LW: Jared Starr
The starr forward on the team and second best overall. I've somehow been getting at least 1 all star prospect per season since season 18, and Jared Starr is my contribution from season 20.

C: Jadyn Petersen
Petersen is one of 3 1200+ OR players on the team, in addition to Starr and captain Oscar "John" Hopkins.

RW: Robert Sobol
One of the last contributions from the Smuggling Grapes, now part of the Smart People collection of elite prospects. His training was off at the beginning of the season, but he's fine now. He's the 4th best winger on the team, but the other three play on the left side. The top 3-4 RW's are all very close, but I have him on the top line at the moment.

LD:Clarence Jernigan
He is the third best defenseman on the team, but the best one on the left side. Both he and the RD on the first line come from the Razorback Thugs.

RD: Oscar Hopkins
Hopkins is the best player on the team and might even be one of the top 18 year olds in the world. He is a veteran of the season 22 World Championships and will attempt to lead the team further into the tournament this season. He was the second line RD last season.

Line 2:
LW: Trent Hansen
Hansen was purchased by the Smart People from the Detroit Slackers. He is the second best wing on the team.

C: Ramond Newell
Newell is a very strong second line center.

RW: Gabe Shearer
Shearer was purchased by the Smart People from the Westchester Red Wings after they folded. He is very close to Sobol.

LD: Max Parker
Parker is a former Boilermaker and the first player from the Bohemians to start for the team.

RD: Ren Duarte
Duarte is the second best defensemen on the U18 team and another great pull from my team.

Line 3:

LW: Wally Harvey
Harvey was purchased from the Montana Miners by the Smart People. Harvey is the third best wing on the team but is stuck on the third line since all three are strict left wings. Of the three, he is the only one who still has 6/6 CL at 18.

C: Heath Melvin
Melvin was also purchased from the Montana Miners by the Smart People. He is good enough to get some consideration for the second line.

RW: Ryan Hodges
Hodges is about as good as Shear and Sobol and will get consideration for the top 2 lines.

LD: Buddy Piper
Piper is from my team and is the sole 17 year old starter for this season. He can go onto the bench for the exhibitions next season, allowing the best 16 year old LD to start for many of those exhibitions.

RD: Werner Emmerson
Emmerson closes out what looks like a Montana Miners line. He is pretty good for a third line defenseman.

Line 4:

LW: Leroy Lugo
Lugo is another good prospect the Smart People

C: Clyde Ralph
Ralph is a center from the GoldFish who could get consideration to play on a higher line for his shooting. All 4 centers will have 1,100+ OR for the World Championships this season. Center is always a deep position for some reason.

RW: Kendall Barbour
Barbour is another strong player from the GoldFish.

LD: Davey Poindexter
Poindexter might be the first starter to come from the Miamia Revenants. He is very close to Piper.

RD: Raymond Campbell
Campbell is another strong prospect from the GoldFish.

Line 5:
Line 5 will be used to fill in for injuries and possibly for tired players if the fifth line players are close enough in ability.

LW: Will Beyer
Beyer is better than players that have started for the team in the past. Theere are a lot of Detroit Red Wings players that made the team as substitutes, 17 year olds, or just missed the cut this season. The future looks bright for the Detroit Red Wings.

C: Brian Sampson
Sampson beat out 2 originally better centers who were trained poorly after their original teams folded, as well as another center from the Bombsville Atomics who I didn't have room for due to a bunch of top teams folding. There were also a bunch of really good 900 OR centers at the start of the season, but Sampson was better than the other options by a little bit. I think he might be the first representative from the Shugar Daddies.

RW: Val Bremer
Bremer is another strong prospect from the Detroit Red Wings.

LD: Russ Johnson
Johnson is another prospect from the Smart People. He should fill in behind Piper next season on the left side.

RD: Chad Arnaud
Arnaud is a former Bombsville Atomic. He initially didn't make the team at the start of the season. Before writing these posts, I looked back through the players that almost made the team but missed, and he was the only one I decided to add. I still have 9 slots for any teams that fold this season (though it doesn't look like any more will in the near future). He replaced Jayson Coy .

Likely season 24 starters:
C:
Kevin Dickinson
Erin Norman
LW:
Mario Peak
Vincent Crawley
RW:
Virgil Gamble
Sergio Newcomb
LD:
Buddy Piper
Izzy Castillo
Tripp Carroll
RD:
Russ Johnson
Casey Goulet
Vincent Hutton
G:
Freddy Chambers

Notable 16 year old:
Lynn Pace
There was a time when it was rare to have more than a few 900 OR 18 year olds at the start of the season. Pace will hit 900 OR before he turns 17. He'll likely be good enough to start as a 17 year old next season. Peak will be my all star contribution for next season, and still has 6/6 CL at 17, but Pace might be the best player to ever come from my team in terms of his OR relative to his age.

John Knight
Knight still has a shot to be the starting goaltender for season 25.

Johnson should be on the left side. Castillo and Carroll could be on either side.

The starting goaltender for the United States is suddenly injured. He won't be back until the final game of the World Championships unless the United States makes the playoffs. With that said, the United States will likely have the best goaltending for that game, and if they are lucky, the playoffs.

And I was just going to say nice shootout win against the UK...