McDonald, Nelson, Donovan & Team USA

On Friday, Team USA will begin its quest to win the World Championship against host country Belarus at 1:45 PM.  New York Islanders' Colin McDonald, Brock Nelson and Matt Donovan were chosen to put on the jersey for Team USA and represent their country against some of the best players in the world (not currently in the NHL playoffs).

Right Wing, Colin McDonald played hard for the Isles this year with 8 and 10 for 18 pts. in 70 games, for an NHL career best.  Rookie Center, Brock Nelson was huge for New York scoring 14 and 12 for 26 points.  His composure and playmaking got him noticed by the fans and coaching staff alike.  In 52 games, Matt Donovan showed some strong defensive outings, netting 2 and 14 for 16 pts.  Donovan learned what it took to play as an NHL defenseman.

 

The Americans will try and improve on a Bronze performance from the 2013 tournament.  Per islanders.nhl.com, They "enter the tournament ranked sixth in the world by the IIHF and are one of the top three teams – along with Finland and Russia – in Group B. Latvia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Germany and Belarus round out the competition in Group B."  Their Full schedule can be found here.

 

@SquatchDonovan, @ColinMcDonald13 &@BNelson

Isles Notes:

 

Colin McDonald has been named Alternate Captain for Team USA.
 

There is no news to report on the Isles signing of Jaroslav Halak, though a few insiders are confident a deal will get done.  The question is when?


Brock Nelson named "Rookie of the year," by popular fan vote.



Stockton Thunder Notes:

STK defeats BAKO 6-2 in Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Thunder now trail 2-1 in the series.