FAMILY TRIP: Team Columbia’s John Mittelstadt (Eden Prairie, Minn.) is not the only member of the Mittelstadt family in the Buffalo area this week. His older brother, Casey, is also in town attending Buffalo Sabres development camp. The camp runs from June 27-30 and features current Sabres prospects taking part in workouts both on and off the ice. Casey was a participant in the 2016 USA Hockey Boys Select 17 Player Development Camp, before being chosen in the first round (eighth overall) by Buffalo in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Upon the conclusion of his freshman season at the University of Minnesota, the 19-year-old forward signed an entry-level contract with the Sabres. When he arrived in Buffalo in late March, he immediately broke into the club’s lineup and tallied five points (1G, 4A) over the final six games of the 2017-18 regular season.
HAPPY CAMPERS: Twenty-seven (27) previous attendees of the USA Hockey Boys Select 17 Camp were drafted earlier this month in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, led by Jack Drury (Winnetka, Ill.), who was selected 42nd overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.
DEAL WITH THE DEVIL: A total of 164 USA Hockey Player Development Camp alumni played in the NHL during the 2017-18 campaign. While that total was sprinkled across all 31 teams, the New Jersey Devils deployed the most former attendees (13) – a group that included: Brian Boyle (Hingham, Mass.), Will Butcher (Sun Prarie, Wis.), Blake Coleman (Plano, Texas), Brian Gibbons (Braintree, Mass.), Andy Greene (Trenton, Mich.), Jimmy Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.), Ben Lovejoy (Concord, N.H.), John Moore (Winnetka, Ill.), Stefan Noesen (Plano, Texas), Kyle Palmieri (Smithtown, N.Y.), Steven Santini (Mahopac, N.Y.), Cory Schneider (Marblehead, Mass.) and Miles Wood (Buffalo, N.Y.).
AMERICAN MADE: USA Hockey’s presence in the NCAA continues to be massive, as according to College Hockey, Inc., this past year marked the 11th consecutive year that an American has claimed the Hobey Baker Award as NCAA hockey’s top player (2018 recipient: Adam Gaudette – Northeastern/Braintree, Mass.). Furthermore, the 2018 NCAA champion University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs’ top eight scorers were all Americans – led by freshman defenseman Scott Perunovich (Hibbing, Minn.), an alumnus of the 2016 USA Hockey Boys Select 17 Camp. Overall nationwide, five of the seven active NCAA Division I players with 100-plus career points are Americans.
DÉJÀ VU: After falling behind with 34 seconds remaining in regulation and miraculously battling back to even the score with just seven seconds to go, Team Grey defeated Team Forest 4-3 to win its second consecutive game by way of a shootout on Thursday. Another notable feat of this victory was the club receiving its shootout goals from Jackson Jutting (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Alex Trombley (Howell, Mich.), the same two skaters that netted the shootout tallies in Wednesday’s victory as well.