Jacob Trouba checks in from WJC

Jacob Trouba is a defenseman for the U.S. Under-18 National Team Development Program of the United States Hockey League. The 6-foot-2, 194-pound native of Rochester, Mich., was the youngest player on the U.S. National Junior Team roster in Edmonton and Calgary, Alta. While the U.S. team finished seventh at the World Junior Championship, Trouba was regarded as one of the team's steadiest blueliners. Following the team's 2-1 victory over Switzerland in its final game of the relegation round, Trouba completed his January blog entry for NHL.com.

Hi everyone. Coming to you from the press room at the Saddledome where we just finished our final game of the World Junior Championship.

The World Junior Championship was definitely a great tournament. I was coming in here as a younger guy and didn't really know what to expect. I just wanted to blend in at first and get to know what I was doing and get to know where I was going. Once I got the hang of it, I discovered that it's still hockey no matter who you're playing or with. You're still playing the same way, so it wasn't that big of a change.

Once I figured that out, it really helped me. Being with this team and these guys really helped me out. They took me under their wing and it's something I'll remember for the rest of my life and something I'll use for next year. [Jarred] Tinordi and [Jon] Merrill really helped me and it wasn't so much asking them things but just by watching them and how they do things. I kind of did what they did because they are solid defenders.

We have big expectations for next year and we'll come back stronger and win a gold medal.

There were some games that I started off slow, but I felt I played pretty well for the most part. I've done what my role is on the team. Entering camp, I felt like USA Hockey needed a physical defenseman and that's kind of what I wanted to focus on mentally and physically because [Jon] Merrill, [Jarred] Tinordi and [Adam] Clendening could do the offensive side, that's what they're good at. I was keying on being physical but during the tournament, I got comfortable doing other things, so that really helped.

Our game against Canada [a 3-2 loss on New Year's Eve] was a real fun one to play in. If you can't get up for that, quit hockey!

During the Canada game, I felt good and felt confident out there, making plays when I could. I thought I held my own and it was a good game. We fought hard to the end which was good, but still didn't come out with the win. Before the game, coach Dean Blais told us that even though we were out of the medal round, we were still playing for our country and that's something many people in our position want to do. So we had to take pride in it no matter if we were playing the last-place game or the gold medal game. We're still representing something, so that's who we needed to play for.

Finally, I just wanted to say how honored it was to be playing in the game that goalie Jack Campbell would earn the record for most wins by an American goalie at the World Junior Championship. Jack is the nicest guy you'd ever meet. He deserves that mark. He'll come out after every period and thank the defensemen. He's such a great guy and I'm really proud I was in that [2-1 victory over Switzerland] because he really deserved that."

You can follow me on twitter at: @jacobtrouba, and stay up on the U18 NTDP and our road to the U18 World Championship. Thanks for reading and check back next month.