Close contests highlight day 4 at 2018 Boys Select 17 Player Development Camp

By Dan Peters, 06/29/18, 8:45PM EDT

Team Columbia remains undefeated

FAMILY TIES: Team Forest forward Jackson Niedermayer (Newport Beach, Calif.) is the son of Hall of Fame defenseman, Scott Niedermayer. Over his lengthy NHL career, the smooth-skating blueliner appeared in over 1,200 games between New Jersey and Anaheim. One of the most decorated players to ever play the game, Niedermayer won gold medals internationally at the Olympics (twice), World Championship, World Cup of Hockey and World Junior Championship. In addition, he was a four-time Stanley Cup Champion (with one also including a Conn Smythe Trophy), Norris Trophy recipient, five-time All-Star Game participant and three-time First Team All-Star. Niedermayer remains tied to the Ducks organization today, holding a role on the club’s player development staff.

The NHL connection doesn’t stop there for Jackson, however, as he is the nephew of Rob Niedermayer, a veteran of five different teams over his lengthy NHL career of 1,153 games – one that included a Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007, alongside brother Scott. Long-time NHL tough-guy, Jason Strudwick, is also a relative of the Niedermayer family.

CHAMPS WELL REPRESENTED: Seven members of the 2018 USA Hockey 16U Tier I National Champion Chicago Mission are competing in this week’s camp. Nicolas Belpedio (Skokie, Ill. – Team Forest), Dylan Davies (Traverse City, Mich. – Team Columbia), Camden Thiesing (Franklin, Tenn. – Team Forest), John Johnson (Naperville, Ill. – Team Black), Hunter Weiss (Lake Forest, Ill. – Team Royal), Joshua Lopina (Minooka, Ill. – Team White) and Theodore Koufis (Palatine, Ill. – Team Gold) were all key contributors for the Mission en route to their eventual 3-1 victory over Team Wisconsin in the National Championship.

SCHOLAR ATHLETES: Twenty-two camp attendees currently boast a grade-point-average of 4.00 or better. Those eclipsing the 4.00 threshold include: Mason Reiners (Edina, Minn. – Team Forest, 4.01 GPA), Andrew Perrott (Columbia Station, OH – Team Red, 4.11 GPA), Joshua Lopina (Minooka, Ill. – Team White, 4.35 GPA) and Lewis Rowan (Pemberville, OH – Team Forest, 4.50 GPA).

TOP DOGS DELIVER: Sitting tied atop the standings through two days, Team Columbia and Team Orange clashed on Friday in a back-and-forth bout that likely set the bar for most spirited of the week thus far. In the end, it was Columbia who captured a 4-3 victory by way of a shootout. Down by one late and applying heavy pressure with the extra attacker, the relentless guys in blue eventually tied things up in the dying seconds of regulation, before prevailing in the shootout.

SHOOTOUT SPECIALISTS: Team Grey captured its third consecutive shootout win of the week on Friday, all of which have come by the same 4-3 score.

LINEUP NOTES: Team Black defenseman Ryan Johnson (Irvine, Calif.) and Team White forward Cade Stibbe (Fargo, N.D.) both remain sidelined due to injury.