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U.S. Natl Sled Team Tops Korea, 8-0, To Open 2017 WSHC

By USAHockey.com, 12/03/17, 10:45AM EST

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McKee, Wallace each score twice; U.S. faces Italy tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I.Kevin McKee (Chicago, Ill.) and Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) each tallied two goals and Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) stopped all eight shots he faced as the 2017-18 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team defeated Korea, 8-0, here today in its opening game of the 2017 World Sled Hockey Challenge at MacLaughlin Arena. 

"This was a great team win to get the season started," said Guy Gosselin, head coach of the 2017-18 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. "We were able to dictate our style of play and we'll look for this team effort to carry over to tomorrow's game against Italy."

Team USA (1-0-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) returns to WSHC action tomorrow when it faces Italy. Puck drop is set for 12 p.m. local time/11 a.m. ET and will be streamed live on HockeyTV.com.

The U.S. opened the scoring just 2:48 into the game when Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) collected a pass from captain Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.), charged past a Korean defender and tucked the puck over Korea’s goaltender, Man Gyun Yu and under the crossbar. 

McKee doubled Team USA’s lead less than two minutes later when he tapped in a pass on the power play. Farmer and Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) collected assists on the goal.

In the final seconds of the period, Tyler Carron (Fort Collins, Colo.) took a pass from Farmer at the left face-off dot and fired a wrist shot into the top corner to give Team USA a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

The U.S. tallied again early in the second stanza as Wallace finished a pass from Declan Farmer just 1:43 into the frame. The play started when he and Farmer skated in alone and executed a give-and-go play to that forced Yu out of position and allowed Wallace to tap the puck into the open net.

With 1:49 to play in the stanza, Adam Page (Lancaster, N.Y.) fired home a pass from McKee to make it 5-0 for Team USA.

Goals from McKee, Wallace and Billy Hanning (Festus, Mo.) in the final frame accounted for the 8-0 final. 

Cash stopped all eight shots he faced to secure the shutout.

NOTES: Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) was named the U.S. Player of the Game ... For today's boxscore, click here ... Deloitte, Labatt USA and Toyota are proud sponsors of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team ... Dan Brennan (Colorado Springs, Colo.), director of sled national teams for USA Hockey, is serving as the general manager of the 2017-18 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team ... Guy Gosselin (Grafton, Wis.), a two-time U.S. Olympian (1988, 1992) and USA Hockey's regional manager of the American Development Model, is in his first season as head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. Joining Gosselin behind the bench is assistant coach David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.) while additional U.S. staff members include team physician Mike Uihlein (Grafton, Wis.), athletic trainer Mike Cortese (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and equipment manager Joel Isaacson (Houghton, Mich.) ... The 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team is expected to be announced on Jan. 1, 2018.

Game Highlights

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U.S. WSHC Schedule

Date Opponent Result U.S. Player of Game
Sun., Dec. 3 Korea W, 8-0 Jack Wallace
Mon., Dec. 4 Italy W, 10-0 Noah Grove
Wed., Dec. 6 Canada W, 5-2 Steve Cash
Thurs., Dec. 7 Italy
Semifinal
W, 5-1 Adam Page
Sat., Dec. 9 Canada
Championship Game
W, 3-2 Brody Roybal

2017 WSHC

2017-18 Season

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