USA vs. Finland

Team USA looks to defend their gold medal as they face off versus Finland in their first game of the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship tonight at 8:00pm. USA won the gold last year after defeating Canada 6-5 in overtime on Canada’s home soil. Last year, Team USA was forced to defeat Finland in the quarterfinals in order to advance to the gold medal round. USA won 6-2 and Finland finished 5th in tournament play.

Team USA finished last year’s tournament with a 3-0-1 record. This year, USA will be led by head coach Keith Allain from Yale University, with eight returning players that include four players on loan from NHL teams.  Returning are forwards Jerry D’Amigo (Toronto), Jeremy Morin (Chicago), Kyle Palmieri (Anaheim) and defensemen Nick Leddy (Chicago) and captain John Ramage (Calgary). D’Amigo and Chris Kreider are expected to lead the team offensively after a successful 2010 IIHF World Juniors in Saskatoon. Both players were tied with 6 goals in last year’s tournament. Palmieri had 1 goal and 8 assists and Morin scored twice and added 5 assists.

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