Halfway through their schedule, the Gophers have 10 power-play goals and three short-handed goals or 13 special team goals total. That's 10th out of 10 WCHA teams.
CC leads in special team goals, 27-4-31, UMD is next, 27-2-29 and North Dakota is third, 25-2-27. CC and UMD are both among the WCHA's top team while the Sioux are struggling, in sixth one point ahead of the U.
Michigan Tech, 12-2-14 and Alaska Anchorage, 10-4-14, are just ahead of the Gophers in special team goals.
Last season Ryan Stoa had eight special team goals alone, four on power plays, four short-handed. He is gone, leaving a year early for pro hockey.
Nobody on the present team has more than two. Especially quiet are forward Mike Hoeffel and defenseman Cade Fairchild, who had six and five, respectively, last season. Hoeffel had two pp goals so far, Fairchild none.
SCHROEDER ON SECOND LINE
Sophomore Jordan Schroeder, who is playing on his third U.S. junior national team, is on the team's second line and is playing right wing, not center.
Schroeder had a goal as the U.S. team beat Slovakia 7-3 in its first game on Saturday but did not have a point as the U.S. edged Switzerland 3-0 on Sunday. After a day off, the team plays Latvia at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and then the true test comes. The U.S. plays tournament favorite Canada at 7 p.m. Thursday.