Monday, April 16, 2012

U18s Off to Fast Start

U18s Off to Fast Start
BU commit Matt Lane shares the U.S. scoring lead at the Under-18 World Championship.

The 2012 U.S. National Under-18 Team, competing in the IIHF World Under-18 Championship in the Czech Republic, has raced to a 3-0-0 start in the tournament, winning all three games without allowing a goal.

The U.S. – which has won gold in eaach of the last two years at the Under-18 event – features 20 players on its roster who have committed to NCAA schools. Team USA faces Canada on Tuesday, April 17 (2 p.m. ET), to wrap up preliminary round play.

Boston University commit Matt Lane, Wisconsin commit Nick Kerdiles and uncommitted Seth Jones lead the Americans in scoring with two goals and two assists each. Quintin Shore, who will follow brothers Drew and Nick to Denver, leads the team with three goals.

The two goaltenders – Collin Olsen (Ohio State) and Jared Rutledge (Michigan) – have split duty to this point, with neither allowing a goal.

Danton Cole – the former Alabama-Huntsville coach and Michigan State standout as a player – is the head coach of the U.S. team, which is comprised almost entirely of players from the U.S. National Team Development Program.

Canada, which split its first two games against Denmark and Finland, faces the host Czech Republic on Monday prior to the showdown with the U.S. A win against Canada would assure the U.S. of a bye in the quarterfinals, which will be played Thursday, April 19. The semifinals are April 20 and medal games are April 22.