Following the evaluation game, players hosted a special moment for long-time USA Hockey equipment manager Scott Aldrich (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Players surprised Aldrich, better known to everyone in the hockey community as Scooter, with a birthday cake and song to celebrate his 50th birthday. Aldrich recently celebrated his 17-year anniversary with USA Hockey.
Sunday was the first opportunity for coaches and the team to practice special teams. A full two-hour session was dedicated to the power play and penalty kill units. Assistant coaches Ted Donato (Cambridge, Mass.), Kris Mayotte (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Steve Miller (Columbus, Ohio) led rotating cross-ice stations while Leaman looked on with hockey operations personnel.
Monday and Tuesday included final evaluation games. USA Hockey staff were busier than NHL teams at free agency, trading and rotating players through to get good looks at players in every situation.
In between games, Leaman gave insight to reporters on a media call of how the evaluation process was going.
“The competition here at camp has been great,” said Leaman. “We told guys that we want to get to the net. We’re going up against some of the most elite goaltenders in the world. We showed guys clips individually of how we want them to play, and they went out during our evaluation games and showed us a lot. We learned a lot about some guys that are going to give us very difficult decisions to make.”
Leaman also made note that the USA Hockey coaching family has been extremely helpful with preparing for coaching in a tournament like World Juniors. Bob Motzko, who won a gold and bronze medal as head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team, Mike Hastings, who won a silver medal as head coach, and last year’s head coach Scott Sandelin were just three of the names mentioned as spending hours on the phone with Leaman.
“The common theme is there is a lot of adversity at the tournament, and they all mentioned you need players that are versatile and can do more than one thing,” said Leaman. “I’ve been fortunate to coach in the tournament twice as an assistant, and we have staff that have served in the tournament recently, but that’s the part of the USA coaching fraternity that’s so great. All of these guys have been willing to do anything and everything to help you out, they want to see this team succeed.”
That’s what it will take to succeed: a full team effort.
A lot will happen over the next ten weeks, as staff make final decisions on the U.S. National Junior Team roster. Some players may have the opportunity to play a handful of games with college and club teams over the next two months, but what was shown on the ice at USA Hockey Arena will leave a lasting impression on staff of who can bring energy and urgency to Team USA in accomplishing the ultimate goal of winning a gold medal.
