Team USA ‘hungry’ following back-to-back gold medals at World Juniors

DULUTH – The past few days have been a little weird for Adam Kleber, who is spending his days at Amsoil Arena — normal for the Minnesota Duluth defenseman — but now looks across a weight room to see opponents-turned-teammates using the Bulldogs’ equipment.

He might bump into his college coach Scott Sandelin in a hallway at the rink, but Kleber is wearing red, white and blue right now. He has a home here in Duluth, but he is living in a hotel alongside other contenders for the U.S. national junior team.

“Last night we went to Bentleyville,” he said Thursday, a reference to an annual tour of lights at Bayfront Festival Park that attracts thousands of visitors to the city during the holiday season. “It was good; I haven’t been there and I’ve actually lived here for years.”

The International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Juniors Tournament starts Friday in the Twin Cities.

The United States, in Group A, will face Germany at 6 p.m. Friday at Grand Casino Arena; those teams also are playing an exhibition Sunday at Amsoil. But there are Group B games for teams like Canada at 3M Arena at Mariucci. There will be more than two dozen games between the tournaments ends Jan. 5.

Team USA is led by Gophers coach Bob Motzko, whose 2017 team won a gold medal in this tournament.

In the meantime, 10 national teams have moved into arenas across the state for pre-tournament practices, games, fine tuning rosters and occasionally awkward run-ins in an elevator with various opponents.

But that was the past.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that are wanting to write their own story,” Kleber said. “We’re really not just focused on the past two years and the successes those teams have had, we’re really focused on putting that behind us, learning from it, and just trying to write our own story.”

The defining characteristic of Team USA: “I would just say hungry,” Kleber said.

Players on the preliminary roster come from 10 states, but Minnesota led with eight players — including a speedy UMD forward who has shifted to center this week. Max Plante of Hermantown was a late-add to Team USA’s roster last season after sitting out some college games because of a wrist injury.

The pivotal phone call came the day before camp started in 2024. From there, looking back at last year’s tournament, it all went by so fast, Plante said.

His role on this team, he said, is an energy guy.

“I’m just going to try and move my feet and steal pucks,” Plante said.

Plante said he’s spending these days with a fun-loving crew that isn’t afraid to compete hard against each other at practice, then resume as best friends — goofing around in the locker room afterward.

Among the 10 teams that are part of the tournament, the United States, Finland and Germany moved into Amsoil Arena last Monday. National flags are draped on walls outside the locker rooms, a backdrop for extra tape, sticks and skate sharpeners.

Outside of practice, German players in workout clothes made a tight circle and juggled a soccer ball among them, and some members of the Finnish team played one-on-one basketball.