Brodie Ziemer, Will Zellers lead Team USA to World Junior Championship victory over Switzerland

Brodie Ziemer, the Chaska native and Golden Gopher, is a natural captain for the United States at the World Junior Championships in his home state.

He isn’t much of a vocal leader, said Bob Motzko, his collegiate and World Juniors head coach. But when Ziemer wants to say something, it grabs everyone’s attention.

After Ziemer led a morning team meeting on Saturday, Dec. 27, about cleaning up their play after a sloppy victory over Germany, he backed up his words.

Seventy-two seconds after a scoreless first period, Ziemer delivered his first goal in this year’s tournament with an upper-shelf laser, jumpstarting Team USA to a 2-1 victory over Switzerland at Grand Casino Arena. Maple Grove native Will Zellers, who wasn’t even on the USA roster at the beginning of the month, scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period.

“We had a meeting this morning and talked about what we need to do if we wanted to have success,” Ziemer said. “I’m proud of the group for coming out and answering the bell.”

Defenseman Adam Kleber, another Chaska native, added: “I think it just comes down leaders, like Brodie, and what he’s saying on the bench.”

The Americans have never lost to Switzerland in the World Juniors, with an all-time record of 26-0-2.

Ziemer called for the puck after Will Horcoff muscled the puck into the offensive zone and found James Hagens with a centering pass. Hagens slipped a drop pass to Ziemer, who unfurled a shot that snuck just below the crossbar.

“I think the whole rink might have heard him there,” Hagens said, smiling, when asked if he heard Ziemer call for the puck. “It was loud.”

Ten minutes later, midway through the second period, the whole team was shook up after a scary injury to standout defender Cole Hutson in the second period. Hutson, struck by a puck near his neck, was taken off the ice on a stretcher and transported to a nearby hospital.

Hutson, Motzko said, rejoined the team after the game.

“Cole, he’s our best player, hands down,” Zellers said. “He takes over games. He has such a big impact on our team.”

The announced crowd of 13,984 fell silent after Hutson’s injury and remained that way after the Swiss goal. Then there was a five-minute delay because the arena had to wait for another ambulance to arrive on site.

Switzerland nearly scored on the next faceoff after it turned into a breakaway for Cyrill Henry.

“It’s tough on any team when you have one of your top players go down,” Hagens said. “It’s a shock emotionally.”

Team USA players kept reminding each other “we had a game to win,” Ziemer said. “Doing it for him.”

Zellers, who also scored two goals in Team USA’s tournament opener against Germany, brought the crowd back into a frenzy when he scored with 5:20 left in the second period. Skating around the left circle, Zellers snuck a short-side goal, somehow, past Swiss goaltender Christian Kirsch. The puck flipped over Kirsch’s shoulder.

“Just ripped it there right off his ear. No one likes to get hit in the head, so I thought I might just fire it there and see what happens.”

Slovakia 4, Germany 1: Tomas Chrenko produced a hat trick, scoring twice in the first period, sending Slovakia to its first victory in the tournament. Two of Chrenko’s goals came on power plays. Adam Nemec, whose older brother, Simon, plays for the New Jersey Devils, added two assists for Slovakia.