12/26 WJC, Albany, and Elmira Update

Thursday 12/26
WJC
USA defeated Czech Republic 5-1
Stefan Matteau LW: +1, 2 PIM (Slashing), 1/1 Faceoff
Steve Santini D: E

LW Matteau skated on a line with Andrew Copp ('13 4/104 WPG) and Hudson Fasching ('13 4/118 LAK) and was on the PP. D Santini was on a pair with Will Butcher ('13 5/123 COL) and played on the PK.

Chris Peters
"USA Standouts from Game 1 for me: Matteau-Copp-Fasching line, Barber, Grzelcyk, Santini, Skjei, Gillies, Eichel, Hinostroza."
"Stefan Matteau named Team USA's player of the game. Interesting choice, but his line with Andrew Copp, Hudson Fasching was fantastic."

Corey Pronman
Re Matteau: "Good speed & power. Didn't create a ton, but was semi-noticeable."
Re Santini: "He was solid. Mobile, physical, made stops, basic with the puck"

United States of Hockey Recap

Stefan Matteau — Matteau played with speed and physicality and was just a handful for the Czechs. He did take one penalty on an ill-advised slash, but mostly he played the way the U.S. needs him to.

Steven Santini — I thought Santini was fantastic throughout the game and made his often quiet defensive play noticeable. He had one iffy shift the whole game, I thought. He was physical, delivering the game’s biggest hit among others, and he showed his good defensive stick and positioning. His skating is an underrated asset of his as he closes in on opposing forwards quickly and finds himself in the right place a lot.

Check out his full post for a ton of game and player notes. I personally was really pleased with Matteau and Santini today. Matteau showed some great vision and was throwing his weight around with a purpose. Santini continued to show that he is as technically sound as they come. 

AHL
Twitter user @joshweissbock has created On/Off Ice Goal For% and Differentials (all situations) for a number of AHL and CHL teams. Here is a link to his look at the Albany Devils. I highly recommend giving him a follow for his work in hockey analytics for minor and junior hockey.

ECHL
Elmira lost to Reading 6-2
Maxime Clermont: 31 Saves on 37 Shots
Season: 12 GP 4-7-1, 3.54 GAA, .889 SV%