Hosting U-18 World Championship 'adds to the pride' for Team USA

FRISCO, Texas -- Team USA arrived in Frisco on Friday to a red carpet greeting and a group of fans waving flags and cheering.
They are starting to get ready for the 2021 IIHF Under-18 World Championship (to be held April 26 to May 6 at Comerica Center in Frisco and Children's Health StarCenter in Plano), and while their hope is to be on top of the 10-team tilt with the gold medal at the end, they have a lot in common with the host organization. The Dallas Stars stepped in to help when USA Hockey decided in February to move the tournament from Michigan because of COVID concerns, and the team now hopes to make a statement that they are an organization that can get things done.
"I think it is preparation meeting opportunity," said Stars president and CEO Brad Alberts. "We have the people here, like Lucas Reid, who have a relationship with USA Hockey, and when they said they might want to explore a move, we were there and ready to offer them a place to go."

Reid is a vice president in charge of amateur sports and partnership development, so he works with Team USA on tournaments at a more local level. The Stars also have done a great job of hosting youth events and have shown that their facilities and personnel are more than capable of putting on an event of this level.
"We're always prepared, we're always looking for something that can we do that is bigger, and we have a pretty good history of running youth hockey tournaments," Alberts said. "If we didn't have that, we wouldn't have a relationship with USA Hockey, but we do, and I think we have the facilities and they know we can do this. They have confidence in our ability and that speaks to our reputation in the industry. I truly believe we are the standard bearer for youth hockey development in the southern United States, and we're proud of that."
Alberts has been pushing for big events since taking over as team president in 2018. He helped bring the 2018 NHL Draft to Dallas and followed that up with the 2020 Winter Classic. Now, having the World Championship helps bring the eyes of the hockey world to North Texas once again.

"This falls into the theme of what we want to do -- we want to host major hockey events in this city," Alberts said. "We're really excited. We're excited to have USA Hockey playing here and staying here, and we're really excited to have the world's best hockey players playing here."
The tournament will begin April 26 with the championship game May 6. Group B will play at Comerica Center in Frisco and will consist of the U.S., Russia, Finland, Czech Republic and Germany. Group A will play at the Children's Health StarCenter in Plano and will include Sweden, Canada, Belarus, Latvia and Switzerland.
Games will be heavily scouted because this will be a great opportunity to view players who could be eligible to be taken in the 2021 NHL Draft. Because of the large number of scouts wanting to watch the games, there will not be public viewing available in Plano. However, there are plenty of tickets to view games in Frisco.
"They're certainly the best under-18 players in the world," Alberts said. "It's going to be a really exciting tournament. These kids are probably gnashing to get after it. They haven't had a normal year, and they want to get after some really competitive hockey, and I think we'll be able to provide that."
Team USA has has medaled in 16 straight tournaments, and is looking forward to trying to win gold, so there is a real amount of pride.
"It adds to the excitement, for sure," U.S. coach Dan Muse said Friday. "It adds to the pride to put on that U.S. jersey and to be able to compete on U.S. soil."

Muse said that many of the players would have already competed in international tournaments in a normal year, but they have seen none this year because of the pandemic. That means there will be a lot of energy and anticipation. What's more, players can definitely affect their draft stock with a positive performance.
But to do that, all players will have to continue to deal with the protocols and staying safe, and that will mean it will be a different experience.
"Going through this year, you're having to learn to adapt all of the time," Muse said. "Everybody in the world has been adapting, and now we're coming into a new environment, so it's just trying to quickly acclimate to that and understanding what needs to be done so we can make the most of every day."
That's something Alberts said the entire organization has learned, and something that should help them in running the tournament.
"Unfortunately, we're experts on this now," Alberts said of making sure facilities are safe and employees are prepared. "We've gone through a year and a half to prepare and we've gone through this season at (American Airlines Center).
"We have a great staff of people who take care of this, so we're ready to go."

2021 IIHF U18 World Championship

Group A: Sweden, Canada, Belarus, Latvia and Switzerland
Group B:United States, Russia, Finland, Czech Republic and Germany
When: April 26 through May 6
Where: Comerica Center, Frisco, Texas and Children's Health StarCenter, Plano, Texas (closed to the public)
Tickets:
ComericaCenter.com/IIHF
Photo credit: USA Hockey
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.