Team USA earns silver at Youth Olympics in Switzerland
By @MichaelCaples –
It wasn’t the final game they wanted, but Team USA will still return to the States with some impressive hardware.
Following a loss to Russia in the final game today, the U.S. boys earned silver medals at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Team USA played four games in five days during the prestigious tournament; they beat Finland and Switzerland in the preliminary round before topping rival Canada 2-1 in the semifinals.
On Tuesday, they couldn’t solve a Russian team that outscored the competition 29-3 in the Youth Olympics.
“I’m tremendously proud of this group of players and what they accomplished,” said head coach Scott Paluch. “They fought very hard, we just got behind early and could never really get established. I’m very proud of their effort and their representation of USA Hockey and Team USA.”
Here are the Michigan names who were competing for the Red, White and Blue in the international tournament:
- Hunter Brzustewicz – Defenseman – Washington Township – Oakland Jr. Grizzlies 15O – Michigan commit
- Tyler Duke – Defenseman – Strongsville, Ohio – Compuware 16U – Notre Dame commit
- Cutter Gauthier – Forward – Northville – Compuware 16U
- Rutger McGroarty – Forward – Lincoln, Neb. – Oakland Jr. Grizzlies 15O – Notre Dame commit
- Frank Nazar – Forward – Mt. Clemens – HoneyBaked 15O – Michigan commit
- Seamus Casey – Defenseman – Estero, Fla. – Florida Alliance – Compuware alum/Michigan commit
- Lane Hutson – Defenseman – North Barrington, Ill. – North Jersey Avalanche – HoneyBaked alum/Boston University commit
Nazar finished second on Team USA in scoring with five points in the four games, the biggest of which being a penalty shot goal against Canada in the semifinals. McGroarty, Duke and Brzustewicz all recorded three points, while Gauthier had one goal and a team-best +3 rating.