Baptism Of Fire

Despite being thumped, Team USA stays positive after opening USHL weekend
Paul Shaheen - Amateur Hockey Report Senior Writer
ROI - 'The stars of tomorrow..play here today.'
October 5, 2009

Getting outscored 15-6 in two games wasn't exactly what Team USA's Under 17's were looking for in their inaugural USHL weekend, but given the enormity of the task, ie: 20 wet behind the ears '93 born players getting their first taste of Tier I junior A action, one could hardly have been terribly surprised.

And yet in many ways, Team USA held its own in losing twice to Chicago in Bensenville, IL. The U-17's never backed away from physical challenges, and rarely, so it seemed, held their heads down in a defeatist way.

See our scouting notes on the weekend here (Game Report: US NTDP Select -17 v Chicago), and courtesy PointStreak, here are the two game summaries:

Game #1 Summary Game #2 Summary

"Well, we've looked better, but this is a big step up," said defenseman Alexx Privitera, the Old Tappan, New Jersey native who picked up a goal in Saturday night's 10-5 defeat. "Those guys (the Steel) are big and fast, and there's no time with the puck anymore. You get a split second, and that's it."

Under 17 head coach Ron Rolston knew only too well what his team was in for, yet found the proverbial positives in reading between the (scoring) lines.

"We knew it would be difficult," said Rolston, now in his sixth season with the US NTDP. "But it will be better for us in that (compared to season's past) we'll have cut our games down to 50 from 70. That will give us more development time, more weight room time, and more skills time in their first year."

And not unexpectedly, Rolston saw an immediate difference between where Team USA is playing now and where it had been.

"The speed and depth (in the USHL) is the biggest difference," Rolston added. "The NAHL is excellent, but there, each team had maybe one line that could really hurt you. Here, it's two or three. But it's all that we expected, it's professional, and if we want to develop elite players, we need to challenge them at an elite level."

While he admittedly has some adjusting to do, Privitera should be one of those players, if he isn't already. Having skated last year for the AAA New Jersey Avalanche U-16's, the 5-11, 175 pound Privitera sees playing in the USHL as an opportunity to truly test where he's at and how far he can go.

"You saw the game, we were getting blasted out there," said the right shooting Privitera. "It's a lot harder, but it's great. This is going to be good for us."

It surely will be, especially in lieu of Privitera's recent decision to skate for Boston University beginning in the fall of 2011.

"I made (unofficial) visits to Boston College, Harvard and Boston University. I liked them all, but I felt more comfortable with the BU coaches and I left there with a better impression."

Privitera didn't have Boston on the brain per se when it came to making a college choice, but he claims practicality played a role.

"I had visited Miami (of Ohio) last November and Wisconsin wanted me to come pay a visit as well, but if I have the situation I want that's only three hours away, I'd rather have that than have to fly three hours, you know?"

Rolston stands comfortable with Privitera's development so far.

"Defense is the hardest place to adjust," said Rolston. "Alexx has great offensive skills. What he needs to work on now is bringing a complete game to every game."

Team USA's next action comes next weekend in a two game set versus visiting Green Bay. The week after, Sioux City comes to Ann Arbor for a pair. The Under 17's will be playing the majority of Team USA's USHL matches this year, while the Under 18's will come in for a sprinkling of games throughout the year.

Below is our initial feature on Alexx Privitera from last November, as well as updated scouting