USA Hockey Magazine

SEPTEMBER 2021 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM // 43 ager Roger Grillo, who selected Plante after his performance at the USA Hockey BioSteel Boys Select 17 Player Development Camp in Amherst, N.Y. "Zam is a really fun player to watch," Grillo said. "He plays the game with a lot of creativ- ity, he sees the ice and he makes other play- ers better. He plays with pace and the most impressive thing about him is that he has that high-end skill level but he also competes con- sistently. That helped our team and it bodes well for him in the future." While Zam doesn't remember much of his dad's NHL career, he does remember sitting in the stands watching him wind down his career in the Deutsche, Asia and Swiss leagues. Thirteen years later, the tables have turned as it's Derek's turn to watch his son represent the United States overseas. "It's hard to believe that it's come full circle like this," Derek said. "It's pretty special to be watching him over here in Europe when a lot of people can't even say they've visited Europe. It's great to see him in this tournament that has gotten so popular over time and I think it was a great experience for our family." More than just watching his son developing his talents on the ice, Derek is most excited about seeing how his son has grown into a great teammate and good person, and nothing could make him prouder. P Michael Reedy is the 2021-23 Brian Fishman Fellow. Entering the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the U.S. Under-18 Men's Select Team had earned 12 all-time top-three fin- ishes in tournament play. The com- petition began in 1991 as the Phoenix Cup, and was renamed the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup in 2007 before becom- ing the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2018. That would be a dream come true. Hopefully I can follow in my dad's footsteps, but we'll see how it goes.

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