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Gameday: U.S. Takes on Canada in Youth Olympic Games Semifinal

By USA Hockey, 01/20/20, 11:30PM EST

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Puck drops at 5 a.m. ET; Stream live on TeamUSA.org

LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The U.S. Youth Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team begins the knockout stage of the 2020 Youth Olympic Games with a semifinal matchup against Canada tomorrow (Jan. 21) at Vaudoise Arena.

Puck drop is slated for 5 a.m. ET, and a live stream of tomorrow's game can be found here

GAME TWO RECAP
Isaac Howard (Hudson, Wis.) recorded his second hat trick of the tournament to lead Team USA to an 8-2 win over Switzerland Sunday (Jan. 19). Ryan Chesley (Mahtomedi, Minn.), Lane Hutson (North Barrington, Ill.), Cutter Gauthier (Northville, Mich.), Rutger McGroarty (Lincoln, Neb.) and Frank Nazar (Mt. Clemens, Mich.) also tallied goals in the win, and goaltender Arthur Smith (Farmington, Conn.) stopped 17 of the 19 shots he faced. The U.S. opened the tournament with a 7-5 win over Finland last Saturday (Jan. 18). 

AGAINST CANADA
The U.S. and Canada last faced off in the gold-medal game of the 2016 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway when Team USA defeated the Canadians, 5-2, to win gold.

ROSTER NUMBERS
The U.S. Youth Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team is comprised of 17 players (9 forwards, 6 defensemen, 2 goaltenders), 15 of whom were selected to participate in the USA Hockey Select 15 Player Development Camp which took place July 15-20, 2019, in Amherst, New York. The players represent 10 different states, including five players from Minnesota, three from Michigan and two from Florida. 

GAMES FORMAT
Six teams, including Canada, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Switzerland and United States, will compete in the men’s tournament in games featuring three, 15-minute periods. The preliminary round consists of two groups with three teams each. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semifinals with bronze and gold-medal games to follow.

Team USA Roster

HAT TRICK HOWARD
Heading into the tournament, Isaac Howard (Hudson, Wis.) leads U.S. skaters in scoring with six goals, including hat tricks in both preliminary-round games. Frank Nazar (Mt. Clemens, Mich.) is second with two goals and two assists.

OLYMPIC CONNECTIONS
The Olympics are a family affair for U.S. forward and captain Jimmy Snuggerud (Chaska, Minn.), whose father, former NHL winger Dave Snuggerud, tallied three goals and two assists as a member of the U.S. Men's Olympic Ice Hockey team at the 1988 Winter Olympics. Snuggerud has an assist in each of Team USA's two preliminary-round games. 

FUTURE SUCCESS
Four members of the gold-medal winning 2016 Men's Youth Olympic Team, including Ty Emberson (Eau Claire, Wis.), Jacob Pivonka (Naperville, Ill.), Mattias Samuelsson (Vorhees, N.J)  and Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.), recently competed in the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ostrava and Trinec, Czech Republic. The U.S. went 2-1-0-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) to finish sixth at the tournament. Pivonka led the U.S. in goal-scoring while Samuelsson served as team captain. 


Team USA Schedule

Date Opponent Time (Local/ET)/Result Stream Location
Tues., Jan. 14 Switzerland
Pre-Tournament
W, 4-0 Stream Here EZO Romanshorn
Romanshorn, Switzerland
Sat., Jan. 18 Finland
Preliminary
W, 7-5 Stream Here Vaudoise Arena
Lausanne, Switzerland
Sun., Jan. 19 Switzerland
Preliminary
W, 8-2 Stream Here Vaudoise Arena
Lausanne, Switzerland
Tues., Jan. 21 Canada
Semifinal
W, 2-1 Stream Here Vaudoise Arena
Lausanne, Switzerland
Wed., Jan. 22 Russia
Gold-Medal Game
L, 0-4 Stream Here Vaudoise Arena
Lausanne, Switzerland

2020 Homepage

Youth Olympic Games History

All-Time Roster


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