United States opens World Junior camp

Friday was the first day of USA Hockey select camp that will help determine the final 23-player roster for the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship to be held in Buffalo from Dec. 26-Jan. 5.
COLUMBUS-- United States coach Bob Motzko used much of the two-hour practice to become acquainted with his leadership group and to watch the compete level of each line and defense pair.

"The first half of practice was to kind of get the pace, get our feet underneath us because a lot of us have been off for almost a week," said forward Brady Tkachuk, an A rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's November players to watch list for the 2018 NHL Draft. "The second half was more compete and [with] battle drills, so it was good to work hard. I thought it was a really good first day."
There are 28 players in camp, and the roster is expected to be trimmed by five over the next six days.
"You don't want it to be a tryout week; it's a building week," Motzko said. "The greatest interest we have is that we have a group that checks all egos at the door and understands the mission. Players have to step up, be resilient and have short-term memory because it's all about getting it done over a two-week period."
Here are five takeaways from camp Friday:

Player spotlight

Jake Oettinger (Dallas Stars), who was the third goalie when the United States won the 2017 World Junior Championship, was not hard to find when he skated onto the ice in new equipment. His pads had white stars on a blue background at the top with red and white stripes over the bottom half.

Highlight of the day

Forward Casey Mittelstadt (Buffalo Sabres) skated on a line with Trent Frederic (Boston Bruins) and Hugh McGing (2018 draft eligible), instead of with Logan Brown (Ottawa Senators) and Kailer Yamamoto (Edmonton Oilers).
The Mittelstadt-Brown-Yamamoto line combined for 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in five games during the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan, in August.
"It wasn't like covering your eyes and throwing a dart, but it was just a matter of trying to balance [the lines] out and having them feel comfortable," Motzko said. "We'll start to move things around and they'll be different [Saturday]. We'll discuss it as a staff."

#

Dynamic combination

Adam Fox (Calgary Flames) and Ryan Lindgren (Boston Bruins) might be the top defense pair. They were teammates with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (2014-16) and at the 2017 WJC.
"[Lindgren] is a great player and I do like playing with him," Fox said. "We kind of feed off each other pretty well, so it was good to get a practice in with him and get the chemistry back."

World Junior Championship memory

"I remember watching with my family the night when John Carlson scored the overtime goal against Canada (in the gold medal game of the 2010 WJC). It's definitely a dream of any young aspiring hockey player to get an overtime winner. I remember my brother (Matthew Tkachuk) and I really being excited about that." -- forward Brady Tkachuk

Quote of the day

"I've had this camp circled on my calendar since end of last tournament. It's something I've been working towards the entire year, so I'm really excited and confident that all the work I've put in up to this point will pay off. It's just about playing, having fun and trusting all the work I've done." -- goalie Jake Oettinger