GOLD MEDAL GAME
The U.S. Youth Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team is searching for its first medal at the Winter Youth Olympic Games as it takes on Canada in the gold medal game at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday. In the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games, the U.S. finished fourth after falling to Canada in the bronze medal game, 7-5. This will be the second time the U.S. and Canada have met at this year’s Youth Olympics, with Canada winning the Feb. 16 matchup, 4-2.
HOW THE U.S. GOT HERE
Team USA is 4-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) at this year’s Youth Olympic Games, outscoring its opponents 21-7. The U.S. opened the tournament with a 4-1 win against Finland on Saturday, Feb. 13 before shutting out Norway, 8-0, the next day. Canada handed the U.S. its only loss of the tournament, but Team USA rounded out preliminary round play with a 4-2 victory against Russia. The most recent U.S. win came against the Russians, a 3-0 shutout in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 19. Jacob Pivonka (Woodridge, Ill.) gave the U.S. a one-goal advantage heading into the third period, and Jake Wise (North Andover, Mass.) scored a shorthanded tally in the final minutes of the game before assisting on a marker by TJ Walsh (Shrewsbury, Mass.) to seal the victory. Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich.) stopped 19 shots to earn his second shutout in three games.
ROSTER NUMBERS
The U.S. Youth Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team is comprised of 17 players (9 forwards, 6 defensemen, 2 goaltenders), all of whom were selected to participate in the USA Hockey Select 15 Player Development Camp which took place July 15-21, 2015, in Williamsville, New York. The players represent 11 different states, with Michigan leading the way with five representatives, followed by Arizona, Massachusetts and New Jersey with two a piece.
STREAMING INFORMATION
The gold medal game will be live streamed on the Olympic YouTube Channel. More information regarding coverage of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, can be found here. Fans can also keep up with game action by following @usahockey and @usahockeyscores and using the hashtags #Lillehammer2016 and #GoTeamUSA.