Team USA wraps prelim round today in St. Paul

(St. Paul, MN/Minnesota News Network) — Team U-S-A will play its final preliminary round game of the World Juniors tonight in St. Paul when they skate against Sweden. Both teams are 3-0 so far in Group A competition, meaning tonight’s winner will earn the top seed from the pod heading into this weekend’s quarterfinal round. The U-S is coming off of Monday’s 6-5 win over Slovakia, while Sweden beat Germany 8-1. Gopher head coach Bob Motzko is leading Team U-S-A and says tonight should be a great atmosphere. Golden Gopher forward Brodie Ziemer of Chaska is the team captain, while Minnesota forward L-J Mooney is also on the club. Minnesota-Duluth is represented by forward Max Plante of Hermantown and defenseman Adam Kleber of Chaska. The U-S roster also includes Wisconsin defenseman Logan Hensler of Woodbury, Denver forward Brendan McMorrow of Lakeville, North Dakota forward Will Zellers of Maple Grove, and future North Dakota goaltender Caleb Heil of Victoria. The puck is set to drop tonight at 5 P-M at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Here is the Team U-S-A schedule, with results to date: Friday, December 26th: United States 6, Germany 3 (final) Saturday, December 27th: United States 2, Switzerland 1 (final) Monday, December 29th: United State 6, Slovakia 5 (final) Wednesday, December 31st: vs. Sweden, 5 P-M (in St. Paul) Friday, January 2nd: Quarterfinals, opponent TBD, 5 P-M (in St. Paul)

Here are results from last night’s World Juniors preliminary round, with Wednesday’s slate of preliminary round games scheduled in the Twin Cities: Tuesday results: Switzerland 4, Germany 0 (final) Latvia 6, Denmark 3 (final) Wednesday slate: Switzerland vs. Slovakia, noon (Grand Casino Arena, St. Paul) Czechia vs. Latvia, 2:30 P-M (3-M Arena at Mariucci, Minneapolis) United States vs. Sweden, 5 P-M (Grand Casino Arena, St. Paul) Canada vs. Finland, 7:30 P-M (3-M Arena at Mariucci, Minneapolis)