U18s Go Back to Back

With a roster stocked with more Californians than Minnesotans, the U18s repeated their gold medal which they won in Fargo last year, and goalie Jack Campbell cemented himself in USA Hockey history.

Future Michigan Wolverine Luke Moffatt (Paradise Valley, AZ) opened the scoring for the US, which never relinquished the lead. Future Minnesota-Duluth Bulldog Justin Faulk (St. Paul, MN) made it 2-0, and Rocco Grimaldi made it 3-0. Sweden would eventually score to end the game 3-1.

Jack Campbell again had a great game in net for the Americans, and now has two U18 golds and a U20 gold on his resume. His NHL draft stock has to be shooting up and if he isn’t the first goalie off the board some scouting director needs to be fired.

Campbell and Jason Zucker will try to win 4 gold medals in a row (two U18, two U20) this winter when the US will be favorites at the WJC in Buffalo.

And, as much as I like to pan Gary Bettman, it should be noted that this team featured players from Arizona, California and Maryland.

Also, USA Hockey has undergone a Renaissance of sorts. 15ish years ago the NTDP was created at a time when the US was a second, and maybe even third tier power in international hockey. Now we are a clear second behind Canada, and with the amount of growth that USA Hockey has left in it, we are poised to be the best hockey country in the world.