Pecknold, Team USA Take World Juniors Opener 5-2 over Latvia
12/26/2022 6:42:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
One down. #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/MTyoKVpQtC
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 26, 2022
After a scoreless first, the Americans' offense exploded for five goals over the final two periods, outshooting the Latvians 37-9. They eventually would establish control in the third, winning the frame by a 3-0 margin on the scoreboard and 18-5 count on the shot chart.
🗣️ Attack the Moment#BobcatNation x @USAHockey pic.twitter.com/DhQXTd0WS5
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) December 26, 2022
The Bobcats currently have four current connections and three past connections to the program with Team USA, as the current members include Coach Pecknold, forward Sam Lipkin, director of operations Shawn Roche and head equipment manager Rob "Bubba" Kennedy.
Can't wait to follow our 😼➡️🇺🇸 squad#BobcatNation x @usahockey pic.twitter.com/TsOPKDJodC
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) December 26, 2022
ABOUT TEAM USA SCHEDULE
Team USA competes in Group B along with Finland, Latvia, Slovakia and Switzerland during preliminary round action at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick. Group A includes Austria, Canada, Czechia, Germany and Sweden, who will compete at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
All of the U.S. National Junior Team's four preliminary-round games will take place at 5 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) and will be televised live on NHL Network. The team continues the tournament with a matchup against Slovakia (Dec. 28) and Switzerland (Dec. 29). Team USA closes the preliminary round with a showdown against Finland on Dec. 31.
The top four teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinal round, which is set for Jan. 2. The Avenir Centre in Moncton, N.B., will feature games starting at 12 p.m. (11 a.m. ET) and 5 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) local time. The Scotiabank Centre will play host to the other two quarterfinal matchups, set for 2:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET) and 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET) local time.
The winners of the quarterfinal games will advance to the semifinals, which will be held at Scotiabank Centre on Jan. 4 at 3:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET) and 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET) local time.
The final day of competition will take place the following day, Jan. 5, at Scotiabank Centre. The bronze-medal game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET) local time, with the gold-medal finale set for 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET) local time.
ABOUT PECKNOLD
He has twice been part of U.S. coaching staffs, including for the U.S. Men's National Team that competed in the 2017 IIHF Men's World Championship and for the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team that earned a silver medal in the 2018 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship.
Pecknold began his storied career at Quinnipiac in 1994-95 when the team competed at the Division II level. He shepherded the school into its Division I era in 1998-99, leading the Bobcats to a then school-record 26 victories, with 18 additional 20-plus win campaigns to his credit since and also three seasons with 30 or more wins.
The four-time ECAC Hockey Tim Taylor Coach of the Year played hockey collegiately at Connecticut College (1986-90) where he earned both a bachelor's degree in economics and master's degree in education. He went on to serve three seasons (1991-94) as an assistant hockey coach for the school before taking over the head coaching reins at Quinnipiac.
