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U18: Team USA U18 2022 Roster

Howard with a hatty through 2 periods. Nazar is buzzing everywhere around out there, he looks fantastic. Chesley looks very strong as well. Howard doing the things he needs to do/go to the areas on the ice he needs to be in front of the net to be rewarded. 6-3 USA over Canada after 2 periods.
 
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Thought we played well today.

The thing I was most interested in coming in was who would start in goal. I was hoping for Augustine, although Muszelik has upped his game the last number of months, and I'm glad they went with the better prospect. Giving Augustine this tournament could come in handy next year. It's a shame that Silverstein went down with injuries again because this should've been his tournament, but it's becoming a theme. I think Augustine is talented enough to hold his own as a U17, but it's still a tall task. Going to need to give him a lot of help. Today he responded well to a weak second period. The first goal wasn't his fault. The other two were savable, and he should've had the Bedard one, but he was far from a problem.

The other thing I'm really unsure about is the defense pairs. I've mentioned it early in the season, and would've said so recently if I was able to, that I do not think these defenseman mix well as pairs. All three current pairs I have problems with. Hutson-Chesley requires Chesley to babysit Hutson, and thats not his game. There could be a game it hurts us with him being too aggressive, although they were great today. The small pairing worries me against size. Both kids are good defensively for their size, but size matters in hockey. The third pair I'm worried how they'll do against top level competition. They had a few struggles today. I would change the pairs, but I doubt it happens at this point. Just hope they hold up. Maybe make a small change here or there like inserting Brzustewicz for Duke.

I had some concerns about the small line coming in. All three of those guys are 5'10 or smaller, but they were excellent today. Our lineup is so stacked that we have Stramel and McGroarty on the third line. Thats a joke to have that type of depth. It's too bad they cut Smith. I would've cut Hejduk, but it seems like they weren't going to cut a U18 forward, so it was either Leonard or Smith. They kept the natural winger. They must have not been comfortable enough with Smith's ability to move to wing because otherwise I don't see what Leonard is bringing that Smith isn't. A little less fancy puck skills and skating, but Smith is the better player in most regards.

Lastly, can we ever get rid of the Canadian announcing crew in the USA? In 2022 why don't we have our own broadcast? Craig Button couldn't shut up. He's normally insufferable, but having to listen to him talk about Bedard being an extra coach had me thinking I was watching ESPN talking about Zion. They couldn't ever shut up about the kid. Thats all they cared about. They didn't seem to make much mention of the score or game that was heavily in our favor.
 
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Was looking for this. It's always interesting to see who the leaders are. McGroarty we expected because we've heard all year that he's the captain, but it looks like Gauthier and Chesley are the other two. I'm a little surprised no letter for Cooley, considering he played WJC20, and the others guys haven't. Maybe he's more of a quiet player in the room.

 
AmericanDream said:
Howard with a hatty through 2 periods. Nazar is buzzing everywhere around out there, he looks fantastic. Chesley looks very strong as well. Howard doing the things he needs to do/go to the areas on the ice he needs to be in front of the net to be rewarded. 6-3 USA over Canada after 2 periods.
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Passing and moving the puck up n out of the defensive one is stellar. Amongst all the great things the U18 and U20 US teams do with consistency now.
 
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Howard has impressed me with his ability to just slip through and around defenders to get prime scoring position. Slippery and can finish, nice combo.
 
Today the first period was rough. It was late game and then early game the next day, so thats a tough turnaround, and could explain why the first wasn't that good. After that, we picked it up and played at the expected level.

Muszelik was good today. The Czech's obviously aren't as dangerous with their shot quality as the Canadians, but he had to make a number of saves today, and came out with a better SV% than Augustine did yesterday. I feel like we have two goalies here that aren't going to win us the tournament, but can manage the game if we carry the play. The problem becomes if we get outplayed in one of the elimination games. I worry how those guys would hold up. I'm sticking with Augustine, but Muszelik is not a recreation of the problems from Homer last year. Very much instead in the Mbereko mold from last year of he won't win us the tournament, but probably won't lose us the tournament.

The offense is so deep that you don't know where its going to come from on a game to game basis. Thats a good thing. The pairings were mixed up today a lot. I wonder if thats wanting to play seven more regularly in a back to back that isn't must win.
 
In watching this game in the 1st period my thought was we’ve seen this movie so many times w good USA teams at various tournaments. Win an opening game against a tough opponent and play well, then play a “trap game” against a team that is lesser skilled but knows how to keep you out of the slot area and frustrates you. Especially when they scored the first goal on the penalty shot. Not to take anything away from Czechia because they have some good players but that was my thought going into the first intermission
 
Pavel Buchnevich said:
Today the first period was rough. It was late game and then early game the next day, so thats a tough turnaround, and could explain why the first wasn't that good. After that, we picked it up and played at the expected level.

Muszelik was good today. The Czech's obviously aren't as dangerous with their shot quality as the Canadians, but he had to make a number of saves today, and came out with a better SV% than Augustine did yesterday. I feel like we have two goalies here that aren't going to win us the tournament, but can manage the game if we carry the play. The problem becomes if we get outplayed in one of the elimination games. I worry how those guys would hold up. I'm sticking with Augustine, but Muszelik is not a recreation of the problems from Homer last year. Very much instead in the Mbereko mold from last year of he won't win us the tournament, but probably won't lose us the tournament.

The offense is so deep that you don't know where its going to come from on a game to game basis. Thats a good thing. The pairings were mixed up today a lot. I wonder if thats wanting to play seven more regularly in a back to back that isn't must win.
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Muszselik is really shaky playing the puck, could haunt them if he plays. I could envision a Mark Andre Fleury Patrick O'sullivan type event with him in net...
 
International rules are such a joke how is he thrown out for that? The kid is wearing a cage for f*** sakes and the Germans are being idiots in a 8-0 game.
 
Pretty expected result today against Germany. Hard to say who played well and who didn’t because it was constant pressure. You could say they all did. Now we’re onto the medal rounds. Good to see Smith and Cleveland get in the lineup today. I’d have Smith in there instead of Hejduk. Not sure what to do with Cleveland. You could drop Duke or Powell, but I think Brzustewicz would be more likely.
 
peconcan said:
International rules are such a joke how is he thrown out for that? The kid is wearing a cage for f*** sakes and the Germans are being idiots in a 8-0 game.
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Eh, on the replay, he got the kid under the cage around the chin. If that had happened to one of the US players, we'd have been calling down a major and suspension for the next game.
 
Chainshot said:
Eh, on the replay, he got the kid under the cage around the chin. If that had happened to one of the US players, we'd have been calling down a major and suspension for the next game.
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That’s true I just think these international rules are soft. No injury on the play, a 2minute cross checking penalty would have been fine.
 
The rules are soft, but thats always going to be the call in IIHF tournaments. Have to adjust to the way they call it, even if we don't like it.
 
Surprised they went with Muszelik. Seems like they are rotating the goalies each game. I wonder if that continues to the semis and medal games.

Easy win, like the Germany one. Hard to tell much, but I thought there was too much guys trying to pad their stats and taking too many offensive chances. Letting up three to Latvia is pretty mediocre defense.
 
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