U18: 2021 USA U-18 Roster

[William H Bonney]

Casey isn’t better than Hutson imo

I think it's close but I prefer Casey. They're both great skating offensive defenseman, but Casey is bigger and better offensively.

 

[DatDude44]

I think it's close but I prefer Casey. They're both great skating offensive defenseman, but Casey is bigger and better offensively.

I think Hutson’s IQ is miles ahead of Casey, if he can just grow enough like 5’10, size won’t be an issue given his skill set and hockey sense

 

[Gold Standard]

All Right! Boys and Girls. It's game day. looking forward to USA-Russia game... but fingers are crossed for a Canada v USA gold medal game.

 

[William H Bonney]

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I think Hutson’s IQ is miles ahead of Casey, if he can just grow enough like 5’10, size won’t be an issue given his skill set and hockey sense

I like both players, but I don’t think there’s any hockey players whose hockey IQ is miles better than Casey. I think he’s really good in that area.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

No Jack Hughes, as alluded to. Where’s Mbereko? The rest is expected. I’d rather switch McGroarty and Devine, but I doubt this coach would play an all 16 year old line.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Only room for a few of them. There were some very good 04s not picked. This roster isn’t entirely on merit. None of the bad 03s were cut this year. The 04s added were added almost entirely due to unavailability of some of the 03s.

Yeah, Frank Nazar is 20+16 after 31 games, Charlie Stramel is 1+7 after 22 games. What 2004 forward should we take to the tournament? Of course, Stramel!

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Yeah, Frank Nazar is 20+16 after 31 games, Charlie Stramel is 1+7 after 22 games. What 2004 forward should we take to the tournament? Of course, Stramel!

Stramel is good. I have no problem with his inclusion on this team. He may not be as good as Nazar right now, but he's going to be an early first round pick in 2023.

The larger problem is that a lot of the USA's best players are from the 2004 age group. If you were building this team without regard for the age of players between the 2003 and 2004 age groups, about half of the roster would be 2004 players. But obviously thats not going to happen, so you end up with situations like this one where good players like Nazar, Gauthier, Fleming, Casey are not on this team, and players like St. Louis, Homer, Straky are. It's also easy to forget that Chesley wasn't on the team until the day before the tournament when a guy who he's already a lot better than had to pull out due to COVID protocols. And the 2004 age group players were likely only added due to the unavailability of the 2003 born players. I'm not convinced any of these 2004 kids on the team now would've been there had there been a full squad available of 2003 born players.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Oof that 3rd Germany goal let in was a stinker. So far we know the US can score.

 

[SK94]

Covid and injuries are really trying hard to ruin our streak. If guys are letting goals with this rate it is going to be over.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Finally got through the first two games.

Homer is brutal. It's really hard to watch. You don't want to be too hard on the kid, but it's not an exaggeration to say he's the biggest weakness on the team. We'll have to outscore the bad goals he lets in. Obviously Mbereko is unavailable for some reason we don't know, but why hasn't Holt gotten a chance to play? Can he really be any worse?

The coach is giving way too much TOI to the Behrens-Schmidt pairing. They are getting exposed defensively. I don't think they are bad players, but they must be playing 25 minutes per game, and these are not 25 minutes per game caliber defensemen. Hreschuk has been quiet, which is expected. He does his job that way. Gallagher has been really good. I think he's been our best player. Those guys should definitely play more, and maybe even switch up that top pairing to put Gallagher with Behrens on the first pair, and Schmidt with Hreschuk on the second pair. I've liked Hutson, but he's had to carry around Straky whose mediocre. Murchison-Chesley have been good, but the coach is not giving enough TOI to Chesley. He only plays like 3 shifts a period. It's not a huge surprise, but you'd like to think the form of the players once the tournament starts should matter towards who gets what TOI. It's time for the coach to adjust.

Cooley's really stepped in well and done a good job replacing Lucius on that line Pastujov/Duke, who've done what they always do. The Savage line has been no worse than average, but I think they are being over-used. The coach is trying to match them up against top lines too often. It's junior hockey. Let them play. They are good role players, but players such as Savage and Gilmartin should not be towards the top of the minutes list for forwards. The bottom two lines still needs work. I at least like what the coach has done putting McGroarty-Stramel-Howard together on one line. Stramel has done well, and Howard hasn't been too bad. McGroarty has been weak, and needs to start playing better. You have to feel bad for Hughes whose saddled with St. Louis and Devine. I'm not sure where else to put Hughes, but I think we aren't going to get as much effectiveness out of him as you'd like playing on the fourth line with those guys.

I'm not liking our chances to win this tournament, but I think we are good enough that its possible. I think we are going to need to see improvements from players like Behrens, Schmidt on the defensive end, and we really need to get some secondary scoring from McGroarty/Howard that we haven't gotten yet.

 

[Robert Ball]

Finally got through the first two games.

Homer is brutal. It's really hard to watch. You don't want to be too hard on the kid, but it's not an exaggeration to say he's the biggest weakness on the team. We'll have to outscore the bad goals he lets in. Obviously Mbereko is unavailable for some reason we don't know, but why hasn't Holt gotten a chance to play? Can he really be any worse?

The coach is giving way too much TOI to the Behrens-Schmidt pairing. They are getting exposed defensively. I don't think they are bad players, but they must be playing 25 minutes per game, and these are not 25 minutes per game caliber defensemen. Hreschuk has been quiet, which is expected. He does his job that way. Gallagher has been really good. I think he's been our best player. Those guys should definitely play more, and maybe even switch up that top pairing to put Gallagher with Behrens on the first pair, and Schmidt with Hreschuk on the second pair. I've liked Hutson, but he's had to carry around Straky whose mediocre. Murchison-Chesley have been good, but the coach is not giving enough TOI to Chesley. He only plays like 3 shifts a period. It's not a huge surprise, but you'd like to think the form of the players once the tournament starts should matter towards who gets what TOI. It's time for the coach to adjust.

Cooley's really stepped in well and done a good job replacing Lucius on that line Pastujov/Duke, who've done what they always do. The Savage line has been no worse than average, but I think they are being over-used. The coach is trying to match them up against top lines too often. It's junior hockey. Let them play. They are good role players, but players such as Savage and Gilmartin should not be towards the top of the minutes list for forwards. The bottom two lines still needs work. I at least like what the coach has done putting McGroarty-Stramel-Howard together on one line. Stramel has done well, and Howard hasn't been too bad. McGroarty has been weak, and needs to start playing better. You have to feel bad for Hughes whose saddled with St. Louis and Devine. I'm not sure where else to put Hughes, but I think we aren't going to get as much effectiveness out of him as you'd like playing on the fourth line with those guys.

I'm not liking our chances to win this tournament, but I think we are good enough that its possible. I think we are going to need to see improvements from players like Behrens, Schmidt on the defensive end, and we really need to get some secondary scoring from McGroarty/Howard that we haven't gotten yet.

You are spot on. Coaching has been brutal. If these are coach's decisions, I expect USA Hockey brass (Vanbiesbrouck) to eventually make the adjustments for him. Terrible chemistry with the entire forward group and over-using players for no apparent reason. Savage line probably ok together but every other line needs to be blown up. Defense has been pretty bad the last 4 periods. Behrens struggling with turnovers in D zone and Schmidt getting walked with those heavy feet. Chesley was a late roster add but needs to start getting regular shifts at a minimum...this cannot be more obvious. Goaltending is what it is, not great options there. Mbereko must be hurt/ill but he is the best option.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

You are spot on. Coaching has been brutal. If these are coach's decisions, I expect USA Hockey brass (Vanbiesbrouck) to eventually make the adjustments for him. Terrible chemistry with the entire forward group and over-using players for no apparent reason. Savage line probably ok together but every other line needs to be blown up. Defense has been pretty bad the last 4 periods. Behrens struggling with turnovers in D zone and Schmidt getting walked with those heavy feet. Chesley was a late roster add but needs to start getting regular shifts at a minimum...this cannot be more obvious. Goaltending is what it is, not great options there. Mbereko must be hurt/ill but he is the best option.

This is what I might try to get some better consistency into the lineup.

Duke-Cooley-Pastujov
McGroarty-Hughes-Howard
Janicke-Savage-Gilmartin
St. Louis-Stramel-Devine
Hejduk

Behrens-Gallagher
Hreschuk-Schmidt
Murchison-Chesley
Hutson-Straky

Holt
Homer

We need to have two scoring lines. We need to count on some of the younger players to provide some scoring. We can keep the top line together, and add Hughes between McGroarty/Howard to give that second line a little better of a scoring punch. I like Stramel, but Hughes is about a full year older. He's better right now. Keep the shutdown line together, but play them a little less. Stramel centers Devine and St. Louis.

I would run out the top two pairs in different capacities. Behrens should be in more of an offensive role, and Hreschuk can do a lot of the defensive work with tougher matchups along with Schmidt. I would move Murchison-Chesley up a pair, and give those guys a little more TOI. I wouldn't be against keeping Hutson on the third pair and just switching Chesley/Straky, but I doubt the coach will want two U17 defensemen playing together. And probably the biggest change needed is in goal. Can Holt be any worse?

 

[Robert Ball]

This is what I might try to get some better consistency into the lineup.

Duke-Cooley-Pastujov
McGroarty-Hughes-Howard
Janicke-Savage-Gilmartin
St. Louis-Stramel-Devine
Hejduk

Behrens-Gallagher
Hreschuk-Schmidt
Murchison-Chesley
Hutson-Straky

Holt
Homer

We need to have two scoring lines. We need to count on some of the younger players to provide some scoring. We can keep the top line together, and add Hughes between McGroarty/Howard to give that second line a little better of a scoring punch. I like Stramel, but Hughes is about a full year older. He's better right now. Keep the shutdown line together, but play them a little less. Stramel centers Devine and St. Louis.

I would run out the top two pairs in different capacities. Behrens should be in more of an offensive role, and Hreschuk can do a lot of the defensive work with tougher matchups along with Schmidt. I would move Murchison-Chesley up a pair, and give those guys a little more TOI. I wouldn't be against keeping Hutson on the third pair and just switching Chesley/Straky, but I doubt the coach will want two U17 defensemen playing together. And probably the biggest change needed is in goal. Can Holt be any worse?

Very close to my thoughts but I would flip Cooley/Hughes and Hutson/Murchison. Howard is overdue for goal production but he needs the right linemates as he does not create much on his own. Hutson/Chesley U17 as third pairing would be just fine, in fact maybe the best. Late game lead shutdown defenders Hreschuk/Chesley. I have not seen Holt play but reports are not great. Maybe give him a start on a short leash.

It appears the coach started the tourney by literally trying to plug U17s into the roles of injured U18 players without much regard for their own skill sets. Seems like the easy/lazy approach instead of building a roster to win. The only success was Hutson taking over L Hughes pp role.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Hopefully settled on a goalie.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I know close games against Czech Republic aren’t what we want, but I thought that had a lot more to do with the Czech’s playing really well. That was one of the best Czech performances against us I’ve seen. I thought we weren’t bad. We still haven’t put together a good performance yet, but I’m not questioning more about this team after that game.

 

[Trojans86]

Anyone know of any free streams? Dm plz if you do

 

[SK94]

So Swedes it is then. Both have been pretty average so interesting to see how it plays out.

 

[Eye of Ra]

So Swedes it is then. Both have been pretty average so interesting to see how it plays out.

Sweden have been horrible. And we always have problem with USA in juniors. Eazy win for USA imo.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

The game against Finland needs to be remembered as the Lane Hutson game. Absolutely insane performance from him. Overall, we weren’t bad. You’d like us to be better than playing so many close games, but this team isn’t that good. Take wins where you can get them.

Our forwards are lacking after that first line, and a few contributions from the 17’s. Savage now may be injured. I don’t know why the coach switched Gilmartin and Devine before the game. That line was playing well, but being overused. The solution is not to put a worse player on the line.

Schmidt has been really weak. He should be on the third pair by now. Behrens hasn’t been much better. He’s being overused. It’d be easy to not overuse him if Hreschuk wasn’t having a mediocre tournament. Like Hutson, Chesley has done really well. He’s thriving in a sheltered role. It’s time to increase his role. Switch him with Schmidt.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Cool NHL network has the TSN feed for tonights game.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Just get the U18’s off the ice, let the U17’s play. What an awful group the 2002’s are.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

This team was a disaster all year. Coaching the main issue. This coach should be sacked immediately. He did a terrible job all year. His decisions made no sense.

The missing players didn’t help either, but they wouldn’t have won even with those players.

Most importantly, fire this coach before he ruins the next team of odd birth year players.

 

[Robert Ball]

This team was a disaster all year. Coaching the main issue. This coach should be sacked immediately. He did a terrible job all year. His decisions made no sense.

The missing players didn’t help either, but they wouldn’t have won even with those players.

Most importantly, fire this coach before he ruins the next team of odd birth year players.

Totally agree...this group never had a chance. I've never seen players mismanaged so badly by a coaching staff. Evidence of this in every tournament game and it's a very long list. Coach should be fired before he leaves Texas as the 2005 evaluation camp is next week.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

If anyone wants to read further about the coaching issues, here was a long analysis I wrote on them earlier in the season.

I've been watching a bunch of games of the 18's, and I'm going to restate what I said earlier in the season that I don't like the coaching for this team. I think it's really poor, and if the WJC18 is played this year, they'll be at a big coaching disadvantage.

There are a few things I wanted to point to that I don't like.

Tactically, I don't think the coach is good. I'll give an example. He had a defensemen in the box for around another 10 seconds when a player took a penalty to make it a 5 on 3. Instead of using two forwards and one defensemen for the ensuing face-off, he uses two defensemen and one forward. The defensemen who took the first penalty comes out of the box, and he has no clue where to be trying to kill the penalty as the second forward. It led to a long possession in the zone on the PP for the opposing team, and hurt the team's ability to clear the puck.

His player deployment also makes absolutely no sense to me. I know these coaches are tasked with developing all players, but I can't remember a team where the waters were so muddied by the coaching decisions of who was actually good at what part of the game. Players such as St. Louis, Brown, Devine play the most or close to it among the forwards, even though they are the worst forwards. These guys also tend to play with skill players and their lines often are the first line out there or close to it. He gives Janicke so little ice time, even though he does a lot with his ice time. He'll use about 8-9 forwards on the PP with any regularity (Hughes, Devine, Gasseau, Duke, Pastujov, Boucher, Wilmer, St. Louis, Brown), but Janicke whose better offensively than at least half of these players doesn't play the PP. I'd also argue Savage is a better offensive player than a number of those players.

He refuses to use Ty Gallagher on the PP, a defensemen with a great shot and the best offensive skills of all the RH defensemen. Instead, he uses Schmidt, if he wants a right shot, even though Schmidt is not much of an offensive player. With the forwards, his PP/PK decisions almost seem like he pick the best PK'ers first, and then lets the guys who aren't among the regular PK'ers on the PP as his way of giving out equal roles. And usually the few guys who get to play both end up being the worst forwards on the team. It makes no sense to me. The guys who are actually the best offensively and defensively only play PP or PK.

And he's created uneven RH/LH pairs for the defense by using this Behrens-Hughes pairing. I don't even think Hughes is good on his off-side, so it makes no sense. Those are probably his two best defensemen, so thats likely the reason, but I don't think they pair that well together. And then it leaves an uneven 4th pair using two right shots.