US NTDP 2016 - 2017 Thread

[doncherrysgrill]

I wonder if it was just the wrong spot for him. He went from playing AA hockey to taking on USHL teams and colleges in one year. Tough to learn on the fly like that. I'm glad he got the opportunity to play at the NTDP because I know money is a bit rough for the family but it doesn't seem like he's developed much there.

 

[NTDP]

I think he's a better player comparing his game today vs when he came into the program. He was one of those players that was good enough to move on from AAA but unless he went the NAHL route for a year there would be no where else to go really. I get what you're saying though. I would think next year he plays on a USHL team instead of going to the NCAA or OHL. Howdishell did that with Muskegon, and he should be poised to play NCAA next year. Not sure if he is even committed, just throwing his name out there as a comparison.

I think Hernandez's game has matured more physically as well. He has been getting into more battles in the corners and coming out with the puck more than in the past.

 

[Whalers Fan]

An interesting game last night. The U18's dominated the game, but the real story was watching Cedar Rapids 16-year old goaltender -- Drew DeRidder from Fenton, Michigan. He put on quite a show, making numerous great saves and kept the Roughriders in the game. Team USA was only able to get one shot past him, but it was enough for a 1-0 win. The NTDP outshot Cedar Rapids 38-15.

Young DeRidder's performance reminded me of Alex Nedeljkovic when he took over the starting goaltending job for the Plymouth Whalers as a 16-year old rookie. DeRidder is also a little on the small side (5'10"), just like Ned. Looking at his stats, it appears he's been playing like this all season for a poor Cedar Rapids team. I wonder how he went unnoticed by the NTDP, especially with him living almost in their backyard?

 

[Firecracker]

An interesting game last night. The U18's dominated the game, but the real story was watching Cedar Rapids 16-year old goaltender -- Drew DeRidder from Fenton, Michigan. He put on quite a show, making numerous great saves and kept the Roughriders in the game. Team USA was only able to get one shot past him, but it was enough for a 1-0 win. The NTDP outshot Cedar Rapids 38-15.

Young DeRidder's performance reminded me of Alex Nedeljkovic when he took over the starting goaltending job for the Plymouth Whalers as a 16-year old rookie. DeRidder is also a little on the small side (5'10"), just like Ned. Looking at his stats, it appears he's been playing like this all season for a poor Cedar Rapids team. I wonder how he went unnoticed by the NTDP, especially with him living almost in their backyard?

He played at the 5 nations tournament and youth Olympics so it wasn't like they hadn't heard of him I just don't think they selected him. He was even invited to the try out camp just didn't make it.

 

[Whalers Fan]

He played at the 5 nations tournament and youth Olympics so it wasn't like they hadn't heard of him I just don't think they selected him. He was even invited to the try out camp just didn't make it.

Thanks for the info. It's too bad he didn't get selected by the NTDP -- he would have been fun to watch for the next two seasons. But Karki's been pretty impressive in net, too, for the U17's so far.

 

[wings5]

What's going on with Adam Samuelsson? Is he injured?

 

[Whalers Fan]

I'm not sure what was up with the goaltenders for the U17's last weekend. Neither Karki nor Ullan were dressed, and Erik Gordon (a '99 birth year) played both games, backed up by Parker Swanson (a '98 birth year). It was very odd to see four goaltenders listed on the game program -- I cannot recall ever seeing that before.

Gordon really struggled on Friday against Chicago, but his defense did him no favors, either. On Saturday against Youngstown, though, the defense did a fantastic job protecting Gordon in a 1-0 win.

I was hoping to catch Sean Baligian on Saturday to find out what was going on with the goalies, but he wasn't doing the color commentary that night. I did tune in to Comcast 900 on Sunday evening for the first part of the rebroadcast of Friday night's game, but there was no mention of why Karki and Ullan were missing. I can only assume they were injured or ill.

 

[DrummondIsGod]

How has DJ King been playing this year with the U17's?

 

[Whalers Fan]

How has DJ King been playing this year with the U17's?

The U17 team has not played at home much in November & December, so I have not really had a chance to see how some of the players are developing. While I did not notice King specifically on Saturday, and I can tell you the team's defense played extremely well that night (after a very poor performance the night before).

I'll try to focus on King a little during Monday afternoon's game.

 

[wings5]

What's going on with Adam Samuelsson? Is he injured?

Anyone???

 

[LeafChief]

What is going on with the USNTDP this year? I can't say I've caught many games but just from stat watching, it looks like some big name guys are having poor years.

I remember reading quite a bit about Wahlstrom, Wise, Wilde, Weiss, Pivonka, Deboer and K'Andre Miller coming into the season.

Is this just not a strong age group?

Serious question - not trying to troll.

I'm always very interested in following the program and really like the way players are developed here.

What gives this season?

 

[Whalers Fan]

I actually think this U17 group is stronger than last year. It's difficult to compare them with the group from two years ago, as that team had a tremendous amount of talent.

The goaltender situation has been bizarre lately, with both Karki and Ullan absent. Rumor is that it's because of school issues, but that is not confirmed.

K'Andre Miller has looked impressive. Wise has shown a lot of speed, but has trouble finishing plays -- that will hopefully come with more experience against the older competition. The others you mentioned have all shown some promise, as well. The first year in the program is a big learning curve, but I think this team will be very interesting to watch as the U18 squad if they can get the goaltending situation resolved.

I am not sure what is up with Adam Samuelsson. The team never discusses player absences anywhere. Mattias Samuelsson (no relation) has looked good on defense, but the "other" Samuelsson has only played in two early season games.

 

[wisssh]

What is going on with the USNTDP this year? I can't say I've caught many games but just from stat watching, it looks like some big name guys are having poor years.

I remember reading quite a bit about Wahlstrom, Wise, Wilde, Weiss, Pivonka, Deboer and K'Andre Miller coming into the season.

Is this just not a strong age group?

Serious question - not trying to troll.

I'm always very interested in following the program and really like the way players are developed here.

What gives this season?

USHL has some pretty strong goalies this year...saw tweet about this yesterday

 

[LeafChief]

I actually think this U17 group is stronger than last year. It's difficult to compare them with the group from two years ago, as that team had a tremendous amount of talent.

The goaltender situation has been bizarre lately, with both Karki and Ullan absent. Rumor is that it's because of school issues, but that is not confirmed.

K'Andre Miller has looked impressive. Wise has shown a lot of speed, but has trouble finishing plays -- that will hopefully come with more experience against the older competition. The others you mentioned have all shown some promise, as well. The first year in the program is a big learning curve, but I think this team will be very interesting to watch as the U18 squad if they can get the goaltending situation resolved.

I am not sure what is up with Adam Samuelsson. The team never discusses player absences anywhere. Mattias Samuelsson (no relation) has looked good on defense, but the "other" Samuelsson has only played in two early season games.

Thanks for the answer.

I have only really been stat watching and that may be why I thought they were struggling.

Do the players on the U17 usually struggle stat-wise due to age?

 

[Whalers Fan]

Thanks for the answer.

I have only really been stat watching and that may be why I thought they were struggling.

Do the players on the U17 usually struggle stat-wise due to age?

The first year in the program is definitely an adjustment period for them. They are 16-17 year olds playing against a lot of older competition (16-21 year olds) for the first time in their lives. While this year's team has not been winning many USHL games, they have been more competitive in most of those games than last year's U17 team, which didn't seem to progress much as the season went on and looked over matched in most games. So, just looking at the stats sheet will not tell the entire story -- you need to actually watch them play to get a sense of where the team is at.

This is only my 2nd season following the program, so it's taken some time to figure things out, and I still have a lot to learn. It's much different than following an OHL team, which I had done for the previous 20 years.

 

[LeafChief]

The first year in the program is definitely an adjustment period for them. They are 16-17 year olds playing against a lot of older competition (16-21 year olds) for the first time in their lives. While this year's team has not been winning many USHL games, they have been more competitive in most of those games than last year's U17 team, which didn't seem to progress much as the season went on and looked over matched in most games. So, just looking at the stats sheet will not tell the entire story -- you need to actually watch them play to get a sense of where the team is at.

This is only my 2nd season following the program, so it's taken some time to figure things out, and I still have a lot to learn. It's much different than following an OHL team, which I had done for the previous 20 years.

Cool! Thanks.

 

[swoopster]

I have a question for somebody familiar with the program. Is there a financial penalty of any kind, such as bill for services rendered, if a player walks away from the program and heads elsewhere to play?

 

[wings5]

Who is likely to be added for u18 WCs? Chmelevski, Poehling, Robertson I'm guessing?

 

[Whalers Fan]

Who is likely to be added for u18 WCs? Chmelevski, Poehling, Robertson I'm guessing?

There was a kid named Brind Amour playing on the U18 team a week or so ago. Not sure if he is any relation to former NHLer Rod, and his name wasn't on the game sheet. He did not play this past weekend, though.

It was a very good weekend at USA Hockey Arena. The U18 squad beat Tri-Cities on Friday in front of a crowd of 1,700+, and the U17's lost aclose one to the same team on Saturday with a crowd of 1,800+. The U17's bounced back to beat Sioux Falls on Sunday afternoon in front of a much smaller crown of about 800. It was nice to see more fans in the building on Friday & Saturday.

The goaltender situation is back to normal for the U17's. Karki played on Saturday, and Ullan got the win on Sunday. The U17's have really looked good the past few outings.

Edit: It appears that was Skyler Brind'Amour, son of Rod, who played a game recently for the U18's.

 

[LeafChief]

There was a kid named Brind Amour playing on the U18 team a week or so ago. Not sure if he is any relation to former NHLer Rod, and his name wasn't on the game sheet. He did not play this past weekend, though.

It was a very good weekend at USA Hockey Arena. The U18 squad beat Tri-Cities on Friday in front of a crowd of 1,700+, and the U17's lost aclose one to the same team on Saturday with a crowd of 1,800+. The U17's bounced back to beat Sioux Falls on Sunday afternoon in front of a much smaller crown of about 800. It was nice to see more fans in the building on Friday & Saturday.

The goaltender situation is back to normal for the U17's. Karki played on Saturday, and Ullan got the win on Sunday. The U17's have really looked good the past few outings.

Edit: It appears that was Skyler Brind'Amour, son of Rod, who played a game recently for the U18's.

Cool.

 

[wings5]

There was a kid named Brind Amour playing on the U18 team a week or so ago. Not sure if he is any relation to former NHLer Rod, and his name wasn't on the game sheet. He did not play this past weekend, though.


Edit: It appears that was Skyler Brind'Amour, son of Rod, who played a game recently for the U18's.

If he's commiting to a college in 3 years from now he must not be very good.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Last night's game between the U18 squad and Waterloo was quite exciting. Team USA overcame a 3-0 deficit before coming back to win 4-3, scoring a late 2nd period and three 3rd period goals, including the game winner by U17 call-up Farabee with 9 seconds left in regulation. Samuelson from the U17 squad was also playing for the U18's.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Joel Farabee certainly had a good weekend. The U17 team member gets to play with the U18 squad, scores the game winning goal on Friday night with 9 seconds left in regulation, and then gets a hat trick in a 8-3 victory the next night!

Quinn Hughes has really been playing well lately, too. He is one of the best skating defensemen I've seen playing juniors in awhile. His small size will hurt him come draft time, but it will be interesting to see where he ends up getting selected. I think he's a late birthday, though, which means he will not be eligible until the 2018 draft. Same with Brady Tkachuk, who has also been playing better lately.

 

[DrummondIsGod]

Are Farabee and Wahlstrom up with the U18's for the rest of the season? Or will they still play games with the U17's?

 

[Whalers Fan]

Are Farabee and Wahlstrom up with the U18's for the rest of the season? Or will they still play games with the U17's?

I am not sure, but if you go to the NTDP website and look at the U18 roster, it lists Farabee, Wahlstrom and Samuelsson. The season is almost over anyway.