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US National Junior Team Evaluation Camp - Day 7 |
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A well deserved day off for Team USA on Friday after playing five games in six days as the US National Junior Team Evaluation Camp draws closer to the end with the final game today against Finland. The players talk about their overall experience thus far in the video blog from Day 7….
I spoke with head coach Phil Housley after practice and he again stressed that they were still in an evaluation period and would continue to be for the early part of the upcoming season. With only three returning players, there are many spots available and they want to do their due diligence to make sure they put the best team they possibly can on the ice in Ufa this December. That said, he's very happy with how quickly players have been able to adapt to the roles they've been given even if those roles change on a day-to-day basis as well as how the camaraderie amongst them has grown off the ice.
He said the degree of separation between them is still very small, but that's because they've collectively gotten better as the week has gone on which he was obviously happy about. He also noted that he and the rest of the selection committee wouldn't be looking only at these 34 players once the season starts pointing to several players in recent years who were either cut from camp or not even invited, but who still made the team in December and made an impact. In that regard, his eyes are still wide open.
Team USA plays Finland today at 4pm and you can watch it live on www.FastHockey.com
Speaking of Finland, they played Sweden last night and lost 5-2 and are winless so far here in Lake Placid. Goals were scored by William Karlsson (2), Rasmus Bengtsson, Oscar Klefbom and Robert Leino and Juuson Ikonen for Finland. Fun part of the night came when US goaltender Garret Sparks was tabbed as an emergency back up for Sweden as their starter Oscar Dansk is sidelined with a knee injury. Must be the flow-tastic long blonde hair….
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Since the guys have been together for a week now, I decided to see just how well they knew each other with a round of Fact or Fiction....check it out!
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While it's important for these guys to develop chemistry and learn their tendencies on the ice, I also thought it was important that they know how to spell each others' names so I decided to lighten the mood and play the name game. Here's what happened…..
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Follow the boys on Twitter!
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Day 1 Blog
Day 2 Blog
Day 3 Blog
Day 4 Blog
Day 5 Blog
Day 6 Blog
Julie
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