Matthews in St. Petersburg
Matthews in St. Petersburg
American youngster named to national team


The 18-year-old prospective number-one draft most recently represented his country three months ago winning a bronze medal at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki, Finland. He also won two U18 World Championship gold medals and was named Most Valuable Player at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship last spring.
After a junior career in his home country, Matthews turned pro by playing for the ZSC Lions Zurich in the Swiss National League A this season. In 40 NLA games the native of Scottsdale, Arizona, scored 24 goals and notched 49 points.
Additional players, as well as the coaching and support staff, will be named in the coming weeks. A big number of players is traditionally selected from teams that miss the playoffs of the National Hockey League.
Team USA will play its preliminary-round games in St. Petersburg against Canada, Belarus, Finland, France, Hungary, Germany and Slovakia.
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