USPHL Elite Through The Numbers: North Region

by Joshua Boyd

November 18, 2022November 18, 2022

By Joshua Boyd and Marlee Bulman / USPHL.com The early part of the week is over and many teams in the North and Mid-Atlantic Divisions of the USPHL Elite will now turn their collective attention to the Islanders Hockey Club Showcase, which for some will be their final action of the month of November. […]

USPHL Elite Players Of The Week: North Region

by Joshua Boyd

November 18, 2022

Games of Nov. 8-14 North Division (Summaries By Joshua Boyd) Forward: Luke Haynes, Springfield Pics The Pics split the past week, picking up a win against the Boston Junior Bruins. Luke Haynes set up two of the goals, including on Nick Gutin’s eventual game-winning goal (one of two for Gutin in the game – […]

USPHL Premier, Elite Nationals To Be Held In Utica, NY, March 23-28, 2023

by Joshua Boyd

November 17, 2022November 17, 2022

By USPHL Staff The United States Premier Hockey League and the Utica Jr. Comets organization are proud to announce that the 2023 USPHL Premier and Elite National Championships will be held at the Nexus Center in Utica, N.Y. – the brand new home of the Jr. Comets’ USPHL teams – between March 23 and March […]

Islanders Hockey Club Showcase Begins Tuesday, Runs Through Nov. 20

by Joshua Boyd

November 11, 2022

By USPHL Staff The USPHL and the Islanders Hockey Club are excited to present the Islanders Hockey Club Showcase making its return to Gallant Arena at Merrimack College and Skate3 in Tyngsboro, Mass., between Nov. 15 and Nov. 20, featuring six days of USPHL hockey! Between Nov. 15 and Nov. 17, the NCDC will be […]

USPHL Elite Players Of The Week: North Region

by Joshua Boyd

November 11, 2022

Week of Nov. 1-7, 2022 Mid-Atlantic Division (Summaries By Marlee Bulman) Forward: John Crowdell, Rockets Hockey Club Crowdell (’03/Staten Island) has put up some impressive numbers this season so far. His points per game average currently sits at 2.29. This past week, the Rockets faced the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders, getting both wins. Crowdell had […]

USPHL Elite Players Of The Month – October 2022: Mid-Atlantic Division

by Joshua Boyd

November 5, 2022

(Summaries by Marlee Bulman) Forwards John Crowdell, Rockets Hockey Club Forward John Crowdell (‘03/Staten Island, NY) is in his fourth year with the Rockets (USPHL 16U and USPHL 18U), this being his first year with the elite team. This season he has grown to be an extremely valuable player for the Rockets. In 12 games, […]

USPHL Elite Players Of The Week: North Region

by Joshua Boyd

October 27, 2022

Week of Oct. 19-25 North Division (Summaries by Joshua Boyd) Forward: Jared Ritter, Springfield Pics Ritter (‘06/Westfield, Mass.) was twice previously a member of the Pics’ USPHL 15U team before joining the Elite team this year. So far, in his junior debut season, he has come up with some big points in some of […]

USPHL Elite Through The Numbers: North Region

by Joshua Boyd

October 22, 2022

Week of Oct. 22, 2022 By Marlee Bulman and Joshua Boyd / USPHL.com North Division Bridgewater Bandits (2-0) The Bandits have really been enjoying the 2022-23 season. They have just come off two massive wins, perhaps no bigger than ending the Northern Cyclones’ previously undefeated streak by beating them 3-2 in overtime on Oct. […]

USPHL Elite Players Of The Week: North Region

by Joshua Boyd

October 21, 2022

Games from Oct. 12-18 North Division Forward: Timmy Luna, Bridgewater Bandits The ‘04 from Falmouth, Mass., has emerged as “Mr. Playmaker” for the Bandits, setting up five of the Bandits’ nine goals in a big 9-4 victory against Boston Junior Bruins on Oct. 15. Overall, he has eight helpers so far this year in […]

USPHL Elite Through The Numbers: North Region

by Joshua Boyd

October 15, 2022

By Marlee Bulman and Joshua Boyd / USPHL.com Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights (8-2-0-0) The WBS Knights have been on fire this season. They made it to the semifinals last year, losing to the Richmond Generals. On Saturday, they are facing the Rockets, against whom the Knights won six out of seven games against the Rockets. Then […]

Sam Lipkin became the second former NCDC player and former Quinnipiac University player and National Champion to sign an NHL contract on April 4.

Lipkin, who played with the Rockets Hockey Club in 2020-21, signed with the Arizona Coyotes, who had selected him in 2021 NHL Entry Draft. That year, Lipkin was on of three players drafted directly out of the NCDC, which led all North American Tier II leagues for that year.

According to the NHL.com/Coyotes website, as per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed. Lipkin will report to the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL).

Photo Courtesy Quinnipiac University Athletics Dept.

“We are pleased to sign Sam Lipkin and have him join our organization,” said Armstrong. “Sam is a big, skilled, two-way forward who had a very successful college career. We look forward to continuing to watch his development.”

The 2003-born native of Philadelphia, Pa., joined the Rockets at Hub City Tampa, the six-week event in which all of the NCDC teams of that season played in Tampa, Fla., in a closed community system to diminish the risk and spread of COVID-19. In the 19 games he played that winter, he put up 25 points.

Lipkin came in with four games of USHL experience already under his belt and jumped over to the Chicago Steel at the end of that season and finished with 13 points in 38 combined USHL regular season and playoff games. The next year, he was dominant for the Steel, putting up 71 points in 59 games as the Team Captain.

In 2022-23, he joined the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, ultimately winning ECAC Hockey Rookie Of The Year honors and helping the Bobcats to their first National Championship. After also winning the Clark Cup with the Steel in 2022, that gave him two straight championships.

Lipkin was also member of Team USA at the 2023 World Junior Championships and earned a Bronze Medal.

The San Jose Sharks officially reported the signing of former Boston Junior Bruins standout Collin Graf to a standard, entry level contract on April 4. The contract will begin immediately for the 2023-24 season.

“Graf has excelled at the collegiate level, finishing as a Hobey Baker Top-10 finalist for the last two seasons,” said Grier, in the posting on the NHL.com/Sharks official team website. “His on-ice awareness allows him to process the game at a high level, and is a unique player with a quality 200-foot game who excels in the offensive zone. We are excited to have him join the organization.”

Photo Courtesy Quinnipiac University Athletics Dept.

A former Junior Bruins youth hockey player from nearby Lincoln, Mass., Graf first started playing with the Junior Bruins in the USPHL in 2016-17 as part of their USPHL16U season, starting the season at the age of 14. He played three seasons totaling 67 games and scored 59 points.

He spent the majority of his final year of 16U eligibility with the Junior Bruins 18U team, and the transition was flawless – he was named to the USPHL 16U All-Star Game in 2018 and the 18U All-Star Game in 2019.

The next year, 2019-20, Graf made his NCDC debut at the age of 17, and then captained the Junior Bruins as an 18-year-old in 2020-21. Over two NCDC seasons, he registered 109 points in 97 combined regular season and playoff games. He played in NCDC All-Star Games in both 2020 and 2021.

He played with Union College in 2021-22 (scoring 22 points in 37 games), earning ECAC All-Academic Honors as a freshman. He transferred after that season to Quinnipiac University and was immense in helping the Bobcats to their first-ever NCAA Division I National Championship.

After scoring 59 points, Graf was heavily decorated – Hobey Baker Finalist, First Team East All-American, All-ECAC First Team, and Frozen Four All-Tournament team, just to name a few laurels. He shared Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist honors with fellow former Junior Bruin and Quinnipiac teammate Yaniv Perets.

This season, he put up 49 points and is once again a Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist, one of two NCDC alumni in that category, along with former Jersey Hitmen forward and NCDC 2020-21 Player Of The Year Liam McLinskey with Holy Cross.

By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com

In connection with the prior announcement about the West Chester Wolves made on March 21, the Boston Junior Bruins have announced that they have sold their NCDC franchise to the West Chester Wolves effective in the 2024-25 season.

The Junior Bruins, charter members during the USPHL’s formation in 2012, and with teams at multiple Junior and Midget levels every year since the 2013-14 inaugural season, were also instrumental in the founding of the National Collegiate Development Conference ahead of its 2017-18 inaugural season. They won the second Dineen Cup title in the NCDC’s history, in 2019.

The Junior Bruins will remain members of the USPHL, competing at the USPHL Premier and USPHL Elite Tier III levels, while also continuing to field high performing Midget 18U and 16U teams in the Tier 1 Hockey Federation, through that league’s partnership with the USPHL.

The Boston Junior Bruins also lay claim to the first NCDC alum to reach the NHL, when Drew O’Connor (2017-18) reached the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins out of Dartmouth College in 2020-21. He has played this 2023-24 season exclusively with Pittsburgh in the NHL for the first time in his pro career. O’Connor was one of 60 eventual NCAA Division I players to have worn the Junior Bruins jersey during their time in the NCDC.

Former Junior Bruins Collin Graf and Yaniv Perets helped Quinnipiac University win the 2023 NCAA National Championship and have both been repeat Hobey Baker Award nominees. Graf is a Hobey Baker Award Top 10 Finalist this year.

As part of the overall transaction, Peter Masters has stepped down from the Executive Committee, and Murry Gunty has joined the Committee. We wish to thank Peter for his years of exceptional service to the USPHL.

About The NCDC
The National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC) was founded in 2017 as the Tuition-Free Tier II conference of the United States Premier Hockey League, itself founded in 2012. The NCDC consists of 18 teams in three divisions, two on the Eastern Seaboard and one in the Rocky Mountain states of Colorado, Utah and Idaho.

The NCDC has sent more than 250 alumni to play NCAA Division I hockey, and more than 900 overall into NCAA college hockey. There were also more than 250 alumni in pro hockey around the world during the 2023-24 season. Former NCDC player Drew O’Connor has become a regular with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, and there have been seven players selected in the NHL Entry Draft from the NCDC.

The Northern Cyclones overcame deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 en route to an eventual 3-2 Cyclones victory over the defending 2023 National Champion Carolina Jr. Hurricanes to seal up the 2023-24 National Championship.

Luke Waterson started the scoring for the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes at 8:07 of the first period, and they kept that lead going into the second period.

Noah Malcolm was the first Cyclone to get his team on the board exactly 1:00 into the second period, with assists from Owen Kneeland and Matthew Taylor.

Luke Waterson struck at 5:48 of the second period, scoring his fifth goal in the last three games. That put the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes up 2-1, which was the last lead the Jr. Canes would see.

The Cyclones then tied the game at 2-2, off the Nick Nardone breakaway effort at the 16:43 mark

The Cyclones’ GWG, also the championship-winning goal, was scored by Owen Kneeland at the 4:41 mark, marking the first time a team scored back-to-back goals in the otherwise dead-even game.

The USPHL Elite National Championship will be decided between the Northern Cyclones and the defending National Champion Carolina Jr. Hurricanes at noon on Monday, March 25.

The Cyclones were able to reach the final off the strength of a 3-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Juniors. Noah Malcolm, Shane Parent (GWG) and Matthew Taylor scored the goals for the Cyclones, and Richard Moskala scored for Tampa Bay.

In the other semifinal, the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes were able to skate past the Islanders Hockey Club by a 6-0 score. Jakson Furlotte and Zachary Rich each scored twice, and Luke Moses and Carter Radosta each registered one goal. Anthony Trantas registered 22 saves on 22 shots.

The teams will clash at the Mastrovito Hyundai Rink at the Utica University Nexus Center.

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

It’s Year 3 for the WBS Knights, and it’s also Year 3 at Nationals for the WBS Knights.

The Elite team (and the Knights’ Premier team) has returned to Utica and will play in its third straight Nationals, one for every year of its existence since joining the league in 2022.

The Knights won the Atlantic Division this year, finishing 28-15-1-0, certainly impressive, but they’ve done even better in Years 1 (35 wins) and 2 (39 wins). Still, the Knights were strong enough to gain the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division.

In the playoffs, they took on the No. 4 Jersey Hitmen, which was the other team along with the Knights in representing the Atlantic Division last year. The Hitmen of 2023 made the semifinals, falling to the Knights who went on to play the eventual champion Carolina Jr. Hurricanes.

This year, it would only be the WBS Knights of the two who would make it to Nationals, as the Knights defeated the Hitmen 8-1 and 10-4.

The Knights had three players in the Top 10 of Elite playoff scoring, with Blake Francione tying for second with nine points in two games. Veteran Jason DiMatteo was tied for fifth with seven points and Kaden Smith came across with five points in two games, good for a tie for fifth in the league. Andrew Zang stopped 59 of 64 in net in both wins against the Hitmen.

This past season, the Knights went up against fellow Atlantic representatives the Rockets Hockey Club seven times and came out with a 3-4-0-0 record. The other Nationals team they faced somewhat more than seldom were the Northern Cyclones, against whom the Knights finished 2-2-0-0.

Additional Nationals teams that the Knights took on during the regular season were the Metro Jets (3-2 win), Islanders Hockey Club (4-1 win) and the Tampa Bay Juniors (4-3 shootout loss).

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

The USPHL Elite National Championships are just about to start on Thursday, and you have to include the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes in the conversation to win it all – again.

“I feel that Potomac, the Northern Cyclones and Atlanta are teams you need to keep an eye on,” said returning Head Coach Brad Gaylord. “And us of course!”

And why wouldn’t you expect the Jr. Canes to be in the final big mix? After all, they did win the regular season championship for the first time. They went on to win a two-game series with two very different games – an 8-1 victory and a 3-2 win against the Hampton Roads Whalers. That, of course, sent the defending National Champions back for another shot at glory, potentially becoming the first team to win back-to-back Elite titles in the current iteration of the conference going back to 2017-18.

“I felt they played very well in Game 1. In Game 2 we went away from our game a little,” said Gaylord. “ If we want to defend our championship, we can’t do that at all in Utica.

“It feels really good [to qualify again] and the players are itching to get the tournament started!” said Gaylord. “They all know everyone wants to beat the champs, so they have been practicing very hard. We have our plan of attack against our upcoming opponents for Games 1 and 2. With three practices left, we’ll be going hard and making sure all players understand the plan of attack.”

The Jr. Canes path at Nationals begins Thursday with the Chicago Crush, a first-year USPHL Midwest Elite Division team, and they also go up against the Islanders Hockey Club, who are making their fourth straight trip to the Nationals. Last year, they also met at Nationals, with Carolina winning 5-2, in a game partially overshadowed by a frightening injury suffered by Carter Radosta. Radosta returned this year to the Jr. Canes and is one of their top players, scoring 50 points.

During the postseason, Gian Khani led the way with five points in two games, while three other returning players were also on top of their game. Jakson Furlotte and Nathan Rhodes each had four points, and both Colby Markham (the league’s all-time leading scorer among defensemen) and Luke Moses had three points apiece.

Ryan Kalina had 18 saves on 19 shots for the win in Game 1, and Anthony Trantas stopped 33 of 35 in the Game 2 victory.

The Jr. Canes this year went 4-3-0-0 against Potomac in a fantastic series played throughout the season. In other games against Nationals teams, they’ve defeated Atlanta and Tampa Bay twice each, and they went up against the Rockets Hockey Club at the USPHL Tampa Showcase, also winning there.