U17 Five Nations Notebook: Finnegan Sears making statement after after early season struggles
PLYMOUTH, Michigan – The United States National Development program is designed with adversity in mind.
The program takes some of the best players in the 16-year-old age group and puts them in a position where, for many, it’s the first time in their life they’ve really failed or struggled on ice. The Under-17 NTDP team is often overmatched in USHL competition and players that have been dominant offensive forces before arriving in Plymouth, Michigan.
It’s something that Finnegan Sears learned the hard way this season.
The Massachusetts native had 53 points in 28 games last season playing prep hockey at The Rivers School. This season, now playing for the NTDP's under-17 team, he’s gone through scoring droughts for the first time in his life, including a 15-game goal drought between October and November.
It was a difficult phase for Sears, but an eye-opening one. He worked on his defensive details and overall game, and in spite of those struggles, started to re-find some confidence against USHL competition.
“It’s a harder game. It was a struggle. I learned that early in the season,” Sears said. “I think it was important for my development to learn that, to get through that, and now things have started to go smoother.”
It hasn’t been just smooth; it’s been electric this week for Sears at the Under-17 Five Nations tournament hosted at USA Hockey Arena.
Sears had a goal and an assist in wins against both Switzerland and Finland. He scored on a lacrosse-style goal against the Swiss and then sniped home a power play marker off the crossbar against Finland one night later.
“The offensive part of my game was always big for me, but I think I needed to get it going again,” Sears said. “Going from the USHL to playing against our own age, I think it’s a good reminder of the confidence I can have with the puck on my stick.”
Bergeron, Prunty embracing national team call-up
Ty Bergeron has been one of the USHL’s best 16-year-old forwards this season for the Muskegon Lumberjacks.
In 37 games with Muskegon, the forward has 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) and has been one of the league’s more dynamic passers once he really hit a stride in early January.
His play has also led to opportunities and call-ups to the NTDP Under-17 team, including for the Under-17 Five Nations, where he picked up an assist on Wednesday in Team USA’s 7-3 win against Finland.
It’s a funny switch for Bergeron, who just a week earlier was playing for Muskegon and had a pair of assists against the NTDP Under-17s.
“Obviously when I’m playing with Muskegon and we came here, it’s not friendly,” Bergeron said. “But joining this team like I did at (the World Under-17) Challenge, isn’t too difficult, it’s a strong group and the guys let me fit in right away.”
Bergeron has been playing on a line with Gunnar Conboy and Kane Barch this tournament, and said playing with and against his age group internationally has been a good reminder of his progress at Muskegon.
It’s been a similar experience for defenceman Jake Prunty, who, like Bergeron, joined the NTDP for this tournament after a strong USHL showing. Prunty leads all USHL 16-year-olds in scoring this season with the Sioux Falls Stampede.
More impressively from Prunty, who was a later addition to the USHL this season after starting the season playing with the New Jersey Rockets, he has quickly turned into one of the more intriguing NHL defensive draft prospects for 2027.
Czechia hoping to make a statement
Five months ago, back in August, Czechia won the championship of the Under-17 Four Nations Tournament in this same building.
At that summer showcase, the Czechs went 3-1 and defeated the United States 5-3 in the championship game. It was a big statement for Czechia’s 2009-born class, but it also came with a bit of an asterisk. USA Hockey uses a select team for the August tournament, not the NTDP roster, and Finland and Sweden didn’t participate.
Czechia wasn’t apologizing for winning, but knew there was an opportunity to make a bigger statement in February with better competition from Sweden, Finland, and the NTDP roster for Team USA.
So far, so good for Czechia, who opened its tournament with a 6-2 smashing of Sweden on Wednesday.
“We want to build on what we did here in the summer,” Adam Němec said. “We had a good tournament winning here, and we want to do the same thing. We have a lot of guys from the summer, but some new guys, it’s a good group.”
Němec, in particular, is entering this tournament with higher expectations after he was one of the Czech standouts back in August.
Němec said he built off that showing into a strong showing back in Czechia at both the under-17 and under-20 level with Bílí Tygři Liberec.
“It’s been a good setup, I got the under-20 chance and have been able to prove I belong there, but there’s pressure to prove it all the time,” Němec said. “But it’s something that I think helps me overall, and it’s fun to bring that mentality here (to this tournament).”