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Andrew Copp, Patrick Sieloff bring gold medals to Ann Arbor with USA Hockey's U-18 World Championship

(From left to right) Jacob Trouba of Rochester, Mich., Seth Jones of Plano, Texas, and Patrick Sieloff of Ann Arbor hold the world championship trophy.

Jana Chytilova | HHOF-IIHF Images

Time passes and players get older and move on, but USA Hockey's under-18 national team has been unaffected when it comes to the World Championships. Time may not stand still, but the results do.

With a 7-0 win over Sweden on Sunday in the Czech Republic, the U.S. took home the gold medal for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year.

“We worked hard, played a very disciplined game and never let up,” U.S. coach Danton Cole said. “These players deserve to call themselves champions.”

While all but one of the players on the team spent the last season in Ann Arbor playing in the National Team Development Program based at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, their medals will be shuttled out to the hometowns of the players to be shown off to family and friends.

Two, though, will stay in Ann Arbor.

Defenseman Patrick Sieloff and forward Andrew Copp are natives of the city.

NBC to focus on Ann Arbor-based national development program during its Hockey Day in America show

The Ann Arbor-based U.S. Hockey National Team Development Program will get some national publicity on Sunday, when NBC Sports is expected to air a story about a day in the life of one of its players.

An NBC Sports camera crew was in Ann Arbor last week. They followed Seth Jones, a member of the program's Under-18 team, as an example of the players from around the country who move into an Ann Arbor home and attend Pioneer High School.

The Plano, Texas, native is the son of Ronald "Popeye" Jones, who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association.

The focus on the U.S. NTDP and its success since its inception in 1996 coincides with USA Hockey's Hockey Weekend Across America.

The story is expected to air during NBC Sports' Hockey Day in America show that begins at noon on Sunday. That's followed by three regional NHL games beginning at 12:30 p.m. (San Jose Sharks vs. Detroit Red Wings locally) and a national game (Boston Bruins vs. Minnesota Wild) at 3 p.m.

Kurt Kleinendorst named USA Hockey National Team Development Program head coach

Kurt Kleinendorst takes a fatherly approach to coaching.

"When they need a pat on the back, they get a pat on the back," he said of his team members. "And when they need a kick in the rear, they get a kick in the rear."

Kleinendorst was named head coach of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor on Tuesday. He replaces John Hynes, who resigned earlier this month to accept the assistant coach position for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.

“I feel like 23 17-year-olds will now become my sons,” said Kleinendorst, who spent the past three seasons as the head coach of the American Hockey League’s Lowell Devils.