North Dakota Commit Gets The Start In Opener As USA Wins 6-3
Bob Motzko has his hands full. The Team USA head coach has his team off to a 2-0-0 start at the World Junior Championship in Minnesota. Despite the early unblemished record, Team USA will be working through a goalie competition in the preliminary round with netminders Caleb Heil, Nicholas Kempf, and Brady Knowling. Not to mention star defenseman, Cole Hutson, went down with a head injury Saturday night and is now listed as day-to-day.
But Friday night, in Team USA’s opening contest against a rising Germany team, Motzko turned to Madison Capitols goalie, Caleb Heil. The native of Victoria, Minnesota is in his fourth USHL campaign and second with Madison. He appeared in 28 games with the Sioux Falls Stampede in his first two seasons, posting a record of 11-12-2. Upon moving to Wisconsin to join the Capitols last season Heil became more of a steady presence in net, playing in 39 games. Heil and the Capitols had a strong 2024-25 season, finishing third in the Eastern Conference before getting knocked out by Dubuque in the second round of the Clark Cup Playoffs. This year, Heil has appeared in 16 games for Madison with a 2.60 goals against average and a 0.891% save percentage before departing for the World Juniors.
Heil pledged his future to the University of North Dakota in August 2023 and is expected to join the Fighting Hawks next year. Heil will have stiff competition for the North Dakota net, with the team currently ranked #4 in the nation. This past summer, Heil was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning and participated in their development camp shortly afterwards.
On opening night of the 2026 World Juniors, Heil and Team USA downed Germany 6-3. The Americans jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before surrendering their first goal off a rebound late in the first period. Midway through the second, after a defensive zone turnover lead to a prime scoring opportunity for the Germans, the game tightened to 3-2. The US quickly responded to restore their two goal lead but Germany wouldn't go away, scoring a third goal on their 13th shot of the game. Two more American goals finished the dramatic second period and Team USA held onto the win. Heil finished with 18 saves and a 0.857% save percentage.
On Saturday, Team USA started Nicholas Kempf as the goaltender competition intensified. Kempf finished with with 16 saves on 17 shots and the Americans bested Switzerland 2-1. Team USA continues their World Juniors preliminary round with a matchup against Slovakia on Monday night.