Day 4: July 31

WJSS OFF DAY
With international games set to continue tomorrow with a pair of U.S.-Canada split-squad matchups, all four nations will take part in practices today at USA Hockey Arena. 

TEAM BUILDING
For the U.S. players and staff, one element of the 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase is the ability for these players to get to know one another and establish some chemistry. While a majority of these players have met either from playing together or as opponents, a good amount of these players are being introduced to one another for the first time. With that in mind, the staff has designed time for the players to get together in an off-ice capacity to establish some chemistry and unity. 

"At the end of the day, we're asking for 22 guys to come together and play together as a team," said Bob Motzko, head coach of the 2018 U.S. National Junior Team. "As coaches, we can tell them where to be, what to do, but they're the ones out there on the ice. They need to be able to play with each other, for each other, and this time together allows them to start building that unity."

SMALL-AREA GAMES
One component to the U.S. practices that has been consistent across the boards has been the use of small area games. Part of USA Hockey's American Development Model, small-area games encourage players to learn by doing, while competing in an environment that encourages creativity and deception skills. These games force players out of their comfort zones, force players to make decisions repeatedly while battling for space in con ned areas and allow goaltenders to see many more shots in various game-like scenarios.

YESTERDAY’S GAME: USA White 4, Sweden 3
Quinn Hughes 
(Orlando, Fla.) notched a goal and two assists as USA White topped Sweden, 4-3, last night. Max Gerlach (Burnsville, Minn.), Ivan
Lodnia
(Novi, Mich.) and KailerYamamoto (Spokane, Wash.) all scored while Dylan St. Cyr (Northville, Mich.) stopped 27 of 30 shots in the win. Jesper Boqvist, Linus Hogberg and Linus Hogbrg all tallied for Sweden.

YESTERDAY’S GAME: USA BLUE 4, Finland 1
Four different players netted goals and Keith Petruzzelli (Wilbraham, Mass.) made 27 saves on 28 shots to lead USA Blue to a 4-1 victory over Finland yesterday afternoon. Max Gildon (Plano, Texas), Sasha Chmelevski (Northville, Mich.), Jason Robertson (Northville, Mich.) and Tim Gettinger (North Olmsted, Ohio) all scored goals in the victory. Aarne Talvitie scored the lone goal for Finland.

WJSS Stat Leaders

Category Leader Statistic
Goals Max Gerlach, USA-W 2
Jesper Bratt, SWE 2
Assists Quinn Hughes, USA-W 2
Adam Fox, USA-B 2
Riley Tufte, USA-B 2
Fredrick Karlstrom, SWE 2
Points Quinn Hughes, USA-W 3
Max Gerlach, USA-W 3
Fredrick Karlstrom, SWE 3
Shots On Goal Janne Kuokkanen, FIN 9
Save Percentage Joseph Woll, USA-B .923
Goals Against Avg. Jake Oettinger, USA-W 1.93
Saves Dylan St. Cyr, USA-W 45
Keith Petruzzelli, USA-B 45

Through July 31