Deprived of USA Hockey tryout, Hartland's Chase Pietila will play in USHL for Lincoln

The coronavirus outbreak deprived Chase Pietila of a tremendous opportunity in his hockey career, but he’s still on a path toward ultimately realizing his dreams.

Pietila, a sophomore at Hartland High School, was one of 49 players invited to USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program evaluation camp for its under-17 program.

The tryout was scheduled for March 18-22 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, but was cancelled when public gatherings were banned in response to the global pandemic.

Unable to hold its evaluation camp, USA Hockey selected a 23-player squad for the 2020-21 season based on its previous scouting. Pietila wasn’t among the eight defensemen who made the cut.

“I never really got to try out,” Pietila said. “I was pretty bummed out. It’s just not meant to be, I guess.”

Pietila will get a couple of opportunities next season to prove himself while playing against the NTDP under-17 team in the United States Hockey League. Shortly after the national team roster was announced, Pietila signed a tender to play for the Lincoln (Neb.) Stars of the USHL.

Pietila, 16, has another option available after being selected by the Saginaw Spirit in the 12th round of the Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection on April 4.

With college hockey as one of his major goals, Pietila wouldn’t be able to pursue that option if he played in the OHL, because some of the players are NHL draft picks who have professional contracts.

“I always wanted to play college hockey growing up,” Pietila said. “(The USHL) is the path to playing it. It’s always a risky option. I decided to play it safe and go to the USHL.”

Had Pietila made the NTDP squad, he would’ve been playing 35 minutes from home in Plymouth. If he played for Saginaw, he would be an hour from home. To play for Lincoln, he will be living more than 11 hours from Hartland.

“You’ve got to move away,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s a great opportunity.”

Pietila played last season with the Detroit HoneyBaked under-15 team, which had 12 players selected by OHL teams, a record for a Michigan-based team. In 75 games, Pietila had 14 goals and 58 assists.

“I’m probably a defensive defenseman,” Pietila said. “I try to play physical, then move the puck when I can, add in offense when I need to.”

Pietila’s team was two games into its state tournament when the season was halted because of the coronavirus. HoneyBaked had aspirations of doing well in the national tournament after that.

Unable to get on the ice, Pietila said, “I’m just shooting pucks, trying to work out as much as I can.”

Pietila has three relatives who played for Hartland last winter — his brother Grant and cousins Adam and Owen Pietila. Chase regularly attended Hartland games, but never considered playing for his high school.

“Everybody has their own path,” he said. “I felt Triple-A was the path I needed to take to get where I wanted to be.”

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Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.