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“Last year, that was one of the best feelings of all time, winning that gold medal,” Leonard said earlier this season. “We talked about it over the summer, that no team has done what we’re hopefully about to do and repeat. It’s definitely going to be a fun experience, for sure.”
Leonard is one of 10 players from Hockey East on Team USA, including five of his BC teammates. Classmate Gabe Perreault was picked as an alternate captain. Drew Fortescue, Aram Minnetian, James Hagens, and Teddy Stiga round out the Eagles on the squad.
Denver’s David Carle returns as coach, and announced last week his intention to keep Perreault, Hagens, and Leonard together on the top line. The move paid off as Perreault and Hagens each scored a pair of goals when the US opened the tournament with a 10-4 win over Germany on Thursday.
Perreault was named the player of the game for the US, while Hagens finished with two goals and two assists.
Three freshmen from Boston University are also representing the US. Newburyport native Cole Eiserman is joined by Cole Hutson and Brandon Svoboda. Eiserman scored the game’s final tally, with Hutson getting the assist, one of his five helpers on the afternoon. Also on the team is Providence freshman Trevor Connelly, who scored on Thursday off a nice feed from Eiserman. Svoboda added a goal of his own.
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The US is in Group A with Canada, Finland, Germany, and Latvia. Group B consists of Czechia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Next up for the US is Latvia on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Finland on Sunday at 2:30 p.m., before concluding preliminary-round action with Canada on New Year’s Eve at 8 p.m. Quarterfinals will be held Jan. 2, followed by the semifinals on Jan. 4, and the bronze and gold medal games on Jan. 5. All games are being broadcast on NHL Network.
Elsewhere in the tournament, BU sophomore Tom Willander is skating for Sweden, while UMass has a pair of representatives in goaltender Michael Hrabal (Czechia) and forward Daniel Jenčko, who had a goal for Slovakia in a 5-2 loss to Sweden Thursday.
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BC anticipated that it would be well-represented in Ottawa, and did not schedule any games over the next two weekends. With no holiday tournament lined up, the rest of the team will look to stay active until the Eagles return to action Jan. 10 when they host Merrimack.
“When you’re going to have a chance to have that many guys play in the World Juniors, it would be really tough for us to play in a tournament,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “It’s up to the guys to take it upon themselves when they’re home to stay in shape, keep sharp, get as much ice as they can.”
The players were given a workout schedule they could follow while they were away from campus. BC entered the break with three defensemen — captain Eamon Powell, junior Lukas Gustafsson, and freshman Will Skahan — out with injuries
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“It’s hard to go that many weeks off to get back into it,” said Brown. “Having a month off, it’s almost like starting again. The good part is we have some injuries that can heal. The toughest part is everyone’s got to really take it upon themselves to stay sharp.”
BU will face Yale on Sunday, but will be off the first weekend in January before hosting Vermont Jan. 10. The Terriers got a taste of what life will be like without their quartet when they took on the US National Team Development Program Dec. 13, winning the exhibition, 7-5. Of particular concern would be the absence of Willander and Hutson, both of whom log heavy minutes along the blue line. Willander is averaging 23:12 per game, tops on the Terriers.
UMass will be down two players, but one is its starting goalie. When Hrabal departed for the tournament last year, the Minutemen went 0-1-2 in his absence. That stretch had them sweating out the results of conference championship weekend, with things breaking right and UMass reaching the NCAA tournament.
The team figures to be in good shape this time. Sophomore Jackson Irving has appeared in four games this season, including one start against Providence on Nov. 14. In 101:37, he has a .949 save percentage and 1.19 goals-against average.
“He shows me the same stuff every day, and he’s a great kid, and keeps getting better,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel. “I’m not worried about our goaltending. I’m excited for Jackson that he’ll get those games. I know what he’ll bring, so that’s always comforting for a coach when you know what you’re going to get.”
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UMass will host Simon Fraser for an exhibition on Saturday.
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.