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Decidedly Red Wings Flavor to USA Puckstoppers

All three world tourney netminders hold connections to Detroit

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5 months ago

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Alex Nedeljkovic, Red Wings
Former Red Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic is joining the USA for the world championship.

A current Detroit Red Wings goalie. A future Red Wings goalie. And now, a former Red Wings goalie.

The essence of Hockeytown is certainly evident in the puckstopping crew that will be performing for USA Hockey at the upcoming IIHF World Championship.

Alex Lyon was the first netminder to gain selection to the American team. He set career highs for games played (44), wins (21) and minutes played (2499) with Detroit this season.

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde, who is serving as an assistant on the staff of USA coach John Hynes, was singing the praises of Lyon at season’s end.

“I cannot talk any more strongly about our goaltending,” Lalonde said. “It ended up being a huge positive for us in a really tough circumstance.

“Alex Lyon was put in a really tough situation. (Backup) James Reimer was put in a really tough situation. Those guys gave us everything and then some. Not only were they battling as hard as possible, they were winning games down the stretch.”

USA Hockey was also naming Trey Augustine to their squad. Detroit’s 41st overall selection in the 2023 NHL entry draft, Augustine just completed his freshman season at Michigan State. He would lead all Big Ten goalies in saves (1216) and was second in wins (23) as the Spartans won both the conference regular season and tournament titles.

Augustine also backstopped the USA to the world junior title.

“He just brings it every day,” Spartans forward and fellow Red Wings draft pick Red Savage said. “It’s hard to put the puck past him.

“That’s really all you want out of a goalie is to be able to stop the puck. He does an amazing job.”

Red Wings Goalies Sharing USA Duties

Lyon and Augustine split netminding chores as the USA was downing Slovakia 6-2 in a pre-tournament game.

Lyon played the first two periods and made 17 saves on 19 shots. Augustine made four saves in the final period. The teams would partake in a shootout following the game and Augustine stopped all five shots he faced.

Former Detroit Goalie Nedeljkovic Joining Squad

USA Hockey was filling the final goaltending slot on the roster Tuesday with another familiar name to Red Wings fans. Alex Nedeljkovic will be joining the squad.

Heading into unrestricted free agency, he spent the past season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nedeljkovic was stopping pucks for the Red Wings from 2021-23 and also played for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Alex Westlund, goalie coach for the Red Wings, is filling the same role at the tournament for USA hockey.

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