Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/68638
"ONCE WE GOT A LEAD ON A TEAM, THERE WAS NO WAY WE WERE GOING TO GIVE IT UP," —BRADY SKJEI, DEFENSEMAN Backed by the stellar goaltending of Collin Olson, who tied Jack Campbell's mark with three shutouts, the U.S. National Under-18 Team earned its fourth consecutive title at the 2012 IIHF Men's World Under 18 Championship. Brno, Czech Republic. we stayed out of the box, we really limited teams' ability to score against us. The goalies played very well in the tournament, and we weren't in the box hardly at all. That took care of two really big aspects." "When the goaltending was on and when team I've been lucky enough to be around and the one thing that there ends up being, through the tournament or the playoffs or whatever situation, is a high level of camaraderie that the guys have and complete disregard for personal achievement," said Cole, who enjoyed an 11-year professional career before turning to coaching in 1999. That camaraderie also gave way to tremendous depth, according to Trouba. "Our team never really had the superstar player," said the likely first-round pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. "We were all fighting and all battling for each other. That really helped us push each other." Team USA' The U.S. was the least penalized team in the tournament, in fact, and killed off 90.9 percent of the penalties it did take. Such disciplined play allowed Team USA to play with even more confidence. "Over the course of two years, we were a pretty good defensive team," said Danton Cole, who coached many of Team USA' players at the National Team Development Program before leading them to gold in s "Once we got a lead on a team, there was no way we were going to give it up," said Skjei, who finished with a team-high plus- 10 rating. To dominate the way the U.S. did in this tournament, it required a true team effort. "You can go back to any championship pop up once more, this time on the back of Jones' jersey as the big No. 4 accepted the championship trophy and hoisted it skyward, capping the most dominant performance in World Under-18 Championship history and adding a record seventh trophy to the U18 mantle for USA Hockey. "You make friendships with this group of guys that will last your lifetime," said Jones, who served as the team's captain. "It's unbelievable to win something like that with your teammates." N s magic number managed to Chris Peters is a freelance writer from North Liberty, Iowa, and former media relations coordinator with the National Team Development Program. USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM JUNE/JULY.2012 27