General | 11/1/2025 11:15:00 AM
Forwards Ty Bergeron (Muskegon Lumberjacks) and Michael Tang (Madison Capitols) will join members of the NTDP U-17 team at the 2025 World U-17 Challenge from Nov. 2-8 in Truro, Nova Scotia.
Six teams participate in the tournament: Canada Red, Canada White, Czechia, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. Teams are split into two groups for two preliminary-round games before the knockout round.
The Americans have won the tournament six times, last winning the championship in 2022, led by NHL draft picks and USHL alums Cole Knuble (Fargo Force) and Eric Pohlkamp (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders).
Bergeron has played in 12 games for the league-leading Lumberjacks, recording a pair of assists and eight shots in those games. The 6'1", 188-lb forward has played the last two years with Honeybaked AAA. He had 62 goals and 78 assists in 90 games playing 15U last season.
Tang, a Harvard commit, has one goal and six assists through Madison's 6-5-0-0 start to the season. The 6'0", 165-lb forward has points in more than half of the games he's played and has not gone more than one game without recording a point. He had 52 goals and 76 assists in 74 games for the Toronto Titans 16U AAA last season.
Bergeron and Tang were both tendered, a process allowing USHL teams to sign up to two players born in 2009 in exchange for their first- and second-round picks in the 2025 USHL Phase I Draft. As a result of their signing, Tang and Bergeron will play at least 55% of their team's regular-season games in 2025-26.
About the USHL
The United States Hockey League (USHL) and its 16 teams are committed to being the world's leading 16–to 20-year-old junior hockey league. During the 2024-25 season, USHL alumni held over 50% of NCAA Division I roster spots, and over 25% of NHL players had USHL experience. With 10 first-round selections and 49 total picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, the USHL has developed the most draft choices of any junior hockey league since 2012.
Elevated through the recently announced Declaration of Excellence with the NHL and USA Hockey, the league's player-first approach, including a 2:1 practice-to-game ratio and a schedule with 92% of games played on weekends, provides its players with the optimal environment for athletic and personal growth, creating pathways for the next generation of stars like Macklin Celebrini (Chicago Steel), Auston Matthews (NTDP), Kyle Connor (Youngstown Phantoms), Matthew Knies (Tri-City Storm), and Jeremy Swayman (Sioux Falls Stampede).