The U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team faces Canada tonight to open Group A play at the 2018 IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship here in Magnitogorsk, Russia. The 2017 gold medalist in Poprad and Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia, Team USA enters the tournament seeking its eighth gold medal in 10 years. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. local and 10:30 a.m. ET and will be televised in the U.S. live on NHL Network.
THE SERIES VS. CANADA
All-time, the U.S. is 9-2-2-1-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) against Canada and has outscored them 62-30. The two teams last met in the 2016 bronze medal game, where eight different U.S. players scored goals and 15 players registered at least one point, as the U.S. downed Canada 10-3. In preliminary matchups, Team USA is 3-0-1-0 against Canada and has outscored them 14-7.
The U.S. enters the 2018 IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship as defending gold medalists while Canada is coming off a fifth-place finish in 2017 after falling to Sweden 7-3 in last year's quarterfinals.
2018 U18 MWC: ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT
The 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Men's World Championship is being held in Chelyabinsk (Traktor Ice Arena) and Magnitogorsk (Metallurg Ice Rink), Russia.
This will mark the fourth time Russia has hosted the tournament, with the previous locations being Sochi (2013), Kazan (2008) and Yaroslavl (2003). Like this year, the 2013 event saw the U.S. enter the tournament as the defending gold medalist. In the end, Canada won gold, the U.S. earned silver and Finland claimed bronze.
The U.S. has also previously earned a bronze medal in the 2008 event and will be seeking its first gold medal on Russian soil.
THINGS WORTH MENTIONING
The United States enters the 2018 IIHF Under-18 World Championship having won 60 of 77 preliminary-round games ... Yesterday Team USA announced that Mattias Samuelsson (Voorhees, N.J./USAH NTDP) will serve as team captain while Ty Emberson (Eau Claire, Wis./ USAH NTDP), Patrick Giles (Chevy Chase, Md./ USAH NTDP), Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich./ USAH NTDP) and Jake Pivonka (Naperville, Ill./ USAH NTDP) will serve as alternate captains ... Team USA is 11-7-1 (W-L-T) all-time in tournament opening matchups ... Team USA has two returning players, Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y.) and Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.) from last year's gold-medal team.
SETH APPERT PREMIERES AS U.S. HEAD COACH
Seth Appert (Cottage Grove Minn./ USAH NTDP), head coach of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, is serving as head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team for first time. In last year's tournament he served as an assistant coach, helping lead the U.S. to a 6-1-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record and its tournament-record 10th gold medal. He is joined behind the bench by assistant coaches Nick Fohr (Grand Forks, N.D./NTDP), Rand Pecknold (Bedford, N.H./Quinnipiac University), Thomas Speer (Janesville, Wis./USAH NTDP) and Mason Graddock (Stowe, Vt./ USAH NTDP).
PRE-TOURNAMENT GAME: U.S. TOPS FRANCE (15-0)
Team USA defeated France 15-0 in a pre-tournament exhibition match on Sunday (April 15) at Traktor Ice Arena.
Nineteen different skaters recorded at least one point in the first matchup between the two countries at the Under-18 level.
Jonathan Gruden (3-2-5) and Gavin Hain (Grand Rapids, Minn./USAH NTDP) (3-0-0) each recorded hat-tricks while Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla./USAH NTDP) (1-3-4) and Joel Farabee (2-2-4) recorded four-point nights.
U.S. Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Round | Time (Local/ET)/Results | Location | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun., April 15 | France | Exhibition | W, 15-0 | Traktor Ice Rink Chelyabinsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
| Thurs., April 19 | Canada | Preliminary | L, 4-6 | Metallurg Ice Rink Magnitogorsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
| Fri., April 20 | Switzerland | Preliminary | W, 8-5 | Metallurg Ice Rink Magnitogorsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
| Sun., April 22 | Sweden | Preliminary | L, 1-3 | Metallurg Ice Rink Magnitogorsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
| Tues., April 24 | Belarus | Preliminary | W, 8-0 | Metallurg Ice Rink Magnitogorsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
| Thurs., April 26 | Russia | Quarterfinals | W, 5-1 | Traktor Ice Rink Chelyabinsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
| Sat., April 28 | Czech Republic | Semifinals | W, 4-1 | Traktor Ice Rink Chelyabinsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
| Sun., April 29 | Finland | Gold Medal Game | L, 2-3 | Traktor Ice Rink Chelyabinsk, Russia |
NHL Network |
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