USPHL Elite 2023-24 Midwest Division Players Of The Week

by Joshua Boyd

November 16, 2023

Week of Nov. 16, 2023 Games of Nov. 8-13, 2023 Forward: Trevor Evans, Fort Wayne Spacemen Evans (‘03/Corona, Calif.) put together a very busy five-game stretch at the USPHL Midwest Elite Showcase in Fort Wayne, picking up three goals and eight assists for 11 points in five games. His line was a 3-8-11, […]

USPHL Elite 2023-24 Midwest Elite Players Of The Week

by Joshua Boyd

November 9, 2023

Games of Nov. 1-7, 2023 Forward: Blake Botterill, Metro Jets Botterill (‘05/Clarkston, Mich.) scored three goals and added 10 assists for 13 points in a stretch of three games. He had a 1-3-4 line in each of two games against Decatur and then added a 1-4-5 performance against Motor City. That improved him to […]

USPHL Elite 2023-24 Midwest Division Players Of The Month: October 2023

by Joshua Boyd

November 3, 2023November 3, 2023

All games from September and October Forward: Trevor Touchton, Motor City Gamblers Touchton (‘04/Utica, Mich.) jumped out on fire in this, his second USPHL season and first with the Gamblers in their inaugural season as an Elite team. He has played in eight games out of the Gamblers Elite’s 11 so far, as he […]

USPHL Elite 2023-24 Midwest Division Players Of The Week

by Joshua Boyd

October 27, 2023October 27, 2023

Week of Oct. 27, 2023 Games of Oct. 17-23, 2023 Forward: Trevor Touchton, Motor City Gamblers Big time production for the second-year USPHL veteran, an ‘04 out of nearby Utica Unified High School. He scored six goals and added six more assists in the Gamblers’ three wins over Decatur. He has 19 points in […]

USPHL Elite 2023-24 Players Of The Week: Midwest Division

by Joshua Boyd

October 20, 2023October 20, 2023

Week of Oct. 20, 2023 Games of Oct. 10-16, 2023 Forward: Dylan Davis, Fort Wayne Spacemen The local ‘06 product from Fort Wayne has been a great producer early on for the Spacemen Elite squad. Recently, over a three-game stretch of wins, he put up a pair of assists against the Metro Jets, […]

USPHL Elite 2023-24 Midwest Division Players Of The Week

by Joshua Boyd

October 12, 2023October 12, 2023

Week of Oct. 12, 2023 Games of Oct. 3-9, 2023 Forward: Blake Botterill, Metro Jets The ‘05 out of Clarkston, Mich., had a huge offensive weekend against the Decatur Blaze Elite squad, posting seven goals (including a 4-3-7 line in the first game) and four assists for 11 points in just two games. […]

USPHL Elite 2023-24 Players Of The Week: Midwest Division / North American Prep Hockey League

by Joshua Boyd

October 6, 2023

Week of Oct. 6, 2023 Games of Sept. 25-Oct. 2, 2023 North American Prospects Hockey League Forward: Justin Boivin, Le Sommet Faucons Boivin (‘07/Quebec) registered a line of two goals and four assists for six points as Le Sommet won three games in their debut in USPHL Elite play. Boivin’s highlight was a […]

USPHL Elite 2023-24 Division Preview Series: Midwest

by Joshua Boyd

September 23, 2023September 23, 2023

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com The 2023-24 season is one of not just some new teams in a couple of the USPHL junior leagues, but the story is one of entire divisions. In the NCDC, the Mountain Division has made its Tier II debut, and now the spotlight will also be on six teams […]

United States Premier Hockey League Announces Formation Of USPHL Elite Midwest Division

by Joshua Boyd

March 30, 2023March 30, 2023

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com The USPHL Midwest East Division, in conjunction with the United States Premier Hockey League, are working to expand westward within the USPHL’s Tier 3 USPHL Elite Conference. The new division in the USPHL Elite will continue in the USPHL’s mission of forging the Path To College Hockey by utilizing […]

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

The Rockets Hockey Club have themselves a few gems in terms of offense, and a team defense that can play the shutdown game. So they certainly come into Utica feeling good about their chances in the 2024 field.

Returning Rockets forwards John Crowdell and Jace Lombardo put themselves in the Elite record books as the No. 1 and 5 all-time scoring forwards, and Lombardo set the all-time single season scoring record at 113 points, followed close behind by Crowdell’s 108 points. Crowdell holds the all-time record at 191 points in 87 Elite games.

“With so many key returners this year, our goal from Day 1 of the off-season was to get here this year,” said Head Coach Todd Wagenbach. “We found the players we needed to add both in the off-season and during the regular season to accomplish this, and it feels great to be back. We earned it through the entire roller coaster ride that was our season.”

The Rockets finished third in the Atlantic Division at 26-16-0-2, which is RHC’s best record in the seven seasons of the current USPHL Elite Conference. And with that, they could still only finish third in a pretty stacked division, from which they are joined by the division’s regular season champion Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. Against the Knights, the Rockets had their best record of the season against any Nationals team, going 4-3-0-0 over the year. They also faced the Northern Cyclones, Islanders Hockey Club and Carolina Jr. Hurricanes during the regular season and fell to each. They will face the Cyclones on March 21 and hope for better results than the shutout defeat they took on Feb. 8 in their first Cyclones Showcase game.

The Rockets did just come off a big, confidence-building series against the higher-seeded P.A.L. Jr. Islanders, winning two games to one.

“We played three truly complete games in the playoffs, and just had some trouble finding the back of the net in Game 1,” said Wagenbach. “We are firing on all cylinders offensively, defensively and in net at the right time and are finally healthy enough to play the way we want to play.”

Lombardo and Crowdell were again 1-2 in scoring against P.A.L., with lines of 4-4-8 and 2-5-7, respectively. The Staten Islanders were especially effective in the Game 3 win, with Lombardo scoring twice and Crowdell putting up a 1-2-3 line in the 4-1 victory this past Monday. With his two goals, Lombardo now has 11 points in five career playoff games, tying him for the Rockets all-time lead in postseason points with Jason Lastra (2018-21).

John Whyte II, an up-and-coming ‘06 in the program, put up five points in the three-game series. Joseph Auletti put up a .949 save percentage in net in going 1-1 against P.A.L., while Eric Rosati stopped 38 shots in Sunday’s Game 2 victory.

Playing on Monday gave the Rockets roughly 10 days between games, but that’s less when you count travel and other preparations.

“Over the next week, we will be doing exactly what everybody else is doing: fine-tuning our systems and special teams at practice, working out in the gym, stretching, watching film, making adjustments, getting reps, taking care of our bodies through nutrition and hydration, and preparing for battle,” added Wagenbach. “Everybody at this Nationals event is good. You have to be to get here. We will be prepared!”

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

The Atlanta MadHatters are ready to come into the 2024 Nationals with nothing but positive energy. This will be the MadHatters first time playing in the Nationals (they had previously qualified for the ultimately canceled 2020 Nationals), so they’re ready to take full advantage of the experience after defeating the Florida Eels in a three-game set, closing it out on Monday.

“I could not be more proud of this group and how far they have come this year,” said MadHatters Head Coach Tyler Casillo. “The MadHatters have had tough battles with the Eels in years past, so being able to climb the mountain and punch our ticket was a great feeling. This will be most of our players’ first experience at Nationals.”

The MadHatters, taking the No. 3 seed on the season, started the series with a 5-1 win. The Florida Eels defeated them in Game 2, 5-4, but the MadHatters then put up a 7-4 victory in Game 3 to finish the series with their Nationals berth in hand.

“This may be a different response than what most think, but I did not think we played our best hockey in the divisional playoffs. Our brand of hockey is shutdown defense and hats off to the Florida Eels for taking it to us in that regard,” said Casillo. “I was very happy with how we responded in every game. In Game 3 there were 3 goals scored in the first two minutes of the game, including two before the first minute was up. It takes leadership and maturity to be able to deal with adversity like that when your season is on the line.

“I couldn’t be happier with how we kept our next shift mentality throughout the series,” Casillo added. “We want our guys to settle into Nationals and play loose and free. If we do this, I think you will see an even better Atlanta team at Nationals.”

The team that folks see at Nationals will be playing against the Metro Jets on Day 1 of the Seeding Round followed by the Northern Cyclones on Day 2. Atlanta had close games with both during the season. At the USPHL Florida College Showcase in Estero, Fla., the MadHatters went to a shootout against the Cyclones, eventually falling 5-4. A few weeks later, they played against the Metro Jets at the USPHL Tampa Showcase and earned a 2-0 shutout victory.

They also faced the Southeast Division’s Potomac Patriots (2-1 loss), and the defending National Champion Carolina Jr. Hurricanes (losses of 4-2 and 3-2 in overtime).

So, which team does Casillo think will give the 10-team field the most fits?

“I think the easy answer is the defending National Champions the Jr. Canes. We have played them twice this year, losing 4-2 and in OT. They are extremely well coached and have talent throughout the lineup. I am expecting them to have a great showing,” Casillo said. “I also think that Potomac is a team to watch out for, they looked great in their series with the Rush. It is very hard to sweep Charlotte and they pulled that off in Charlotte’s barn, which is very impressive.”

Also impressive were the performances of several MadHatters in their series against the Eels. Chase Kerr (5-4-9) was one of the top scorers in all the playoffs so far, standing second overall so far. Defenseman Tyler Clouthier and Elite veteran Will McLaughlin each scored five points. Jackson Bernier went 2-0 making 59 saves on 64 shots. Christian Amato stopped 26 shots in the loss to the Eels.

Like many teams, the MadHatters are in the midst of a very highly planned and meticulous approach to the biggest event of the year.

“With the long travel we had to make to get to Fort Myers, we will only have three practices to prepare for the upcoming challenge. This means our last three practices will need to be our best of the year to prepare for the battle we are going to face in Utica,” Casillo said. “The plan stays the same as it has all year – practice, lift, and film. Being able to play Metro and the Cyclones earlier in the year will be a nice advantage. The focus will be on our guys playing our game. If we play to our potential and stick to our style, I think we are a tough matchup for anyone at the tournament.”

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

The Chicago Crush as an organization were founded in 2022 as a USPHLPremier program, and their USPHL Elite team was founded just in 2023. One year into the Elite team’s existence, they are on their way to the USPHL Nationals as one of two first-year Midwest Division Elite teams.

“It feels great to be a part of the national tournament in our first year at the Elite level,” said Crush Head Coach Phil Bushbacher. “As a second year club, we are thrilled at the opportunity to showcase our program at the biggest event of the USPHL season.”

The Crush went 27-14-0-3 during their inaugural season, enough to clinch second place in the Midwest Division and earn a bye into the first round. They watched as the Fort Wayne Spacemen and the Chicago Cougars went through a three-game series, with Fort Wayne emerging as The Crush’s second round opponent. For both teams, just two wins represented the necessary achievement for a Nationals berth.

The Crush came out and won Game 1 2-0 on the back of a 31-save shutout by Johnny Augusta. However, Fort Wayne rebounded in a major way, winning 4-1 in Game 2. The Crush broke out for a 5-1 win in Game 3 to earn their berth to the Nationals in Utica, N.Y.

“I thought we did a really nice job of managing our emotions during the last series against Fort Wayne. They had our number all season, but we stayed in the moment, and played some of our best hockey,” Bushbacher said. “It was a great series, and kudos to the Spacemen, but we are certainly happy to have advanced on to Utica.”

Cole Darlas, who had 22 points during the regular season, put up three points in three games to lead the Crush against Fort Wayne. Six more Crush players each had two points.

Augusta stopped 54 of 55 shots during his two games in action, while Kyle Tyszkiewicz stopped 32 shots during the Game 2 loss.

The team was facing about 10 days between games, so Bushbacher said the team’s time would have to be very well planned.

“We will have a bit of time between games, so we will have to practice with a lot of tempo and detail,” said Bushbacher. “We have had a few long breaks during the year, and it will be good to recharge after a long season and focus on some areas of needed improvement.”

The Crush had quite the Seeding Round draw, as they will face the defending National Champion Carolina Jr. Hurricanes on March 21 and the 2023 runner-up Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. The Crush have only ever played one game outside of their division: a 3-1 victory over the Elmira Impact (Atlantic Division) on Nov. 18 at the USPHL Detroit Showcase. It doesn’t matter who they draw, said Bushbacher, the Crush have to be ready to play their two best games all year – because everyone else will.

“Every team in the event will be strong. All of us are the best teams from our respective divisions, so the level of play will be high,” said Bushbacher. “Carolina is a team that we are eager to see, as they have had a tremendous regular season and playoffs. We are also looking forward to seeing how Metro does. As a division, we want to make a splash, so this will be one instance in which we are pulling for the Jets!”

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

With the exception of the league’s inaugural year (2017-18), the Northern Cyclones have been synonymous with the USPHL Nationals at the Elite level. The team is certainly excited about qualifying for the sixth straight Nationals, especially after being inspired by seeing their Premier brethren win it all in 2023. The Cyclones also reached the Elite National Championship game themselves in 2022.

“It is a great feeling to be heading back to Nationals, obviously the goal on day 1 is to work towards getting there and the guys put a lot of work in to be able to make it happen,” said Head Coach Tim Plummer.

At 33-6-4-1, the Cyclones finished second in the league overall with 71 points, just three points behind the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes. The Cyclones have always made the semifinals or better every time they’ve made it, including the aforementioned championship game on their own home ice in 2022.

The path to get to the Nationals went through the Boston Junior Bruins, the No. 4 seed in the New England Division. Having seen the Premier Junior Bruins oust the Premier Cyclones in a shocking 7-over-2 upset, the Elite Cyclones weren’t going to let that happen to two teams in Hudson, N.H.

“I thought we played solid in our series leading up to it. Obviously goaltending and defending was a factor as we didn’t let any in the back of the net,” said Plummer, whose team won 4-0, 4-0 against the Junior Bruins. “We stuck to our systems and did what we needed to for us to advance.”

Michael Anstey and Nick Cowles each got the shutout wins in net, but neither was greatly tested, stopping a total of 18 shots between them in the series. Offensively, the Cyclones were second in goals per game (4.84) and shots on goal per game (46.89) in the Elite during the regular season, as well as second in the main defensive measures of goals against (2.07) and shots on goal against (23.64).

During the playoff series, the same leaders from the regular season were the leaders against the Junior Bruins. Josh Bruno led with five points, and both Noah Malcolm and defenseman Matthew Taylor scored three apiece.

Plummer understands it is a long time, nearly three weeks between his team’s last game against the Junior Bruins and first in the Nationals, against the Rockets Hockey Club.

“We have been skating every day, doing a lot of maintenance work in the gym, spending a bunch of time together to prepare,” said Plummer. “Working on fine tuning everything for what will be a large task at hand.”

The Cyclones have gone 8-4-2-0 against fellow Nationals teams, including a recent 6-0 victory on Feb. 8 against the Rockets Hockey Club, their Day 1 opponent.

That was followed shortly thereafter by an 0-1-1-0 weekend against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. The Cyclones went 5-2-1-0 against the Islanders Hockey Club, their fellow New England Division foes.

They also faced the Tampa Bay Juniors (5-4 loss) and Atlanta MadHatters (4-3 shootout win) at the USPHL Florida College Showcase in December. They face Atlanta on Day 2 at the Nationals.

“Honestly I think every team attending is a threat, there are no layups this time of year,” said Plummer. “I took some time to watch all the teams play this past weekend and I think it’s anyone’s game.

“We have to show up and be prepared to play at our best level and work to compete at the highest level,” he added. “We have to show up with the right mindset and attitude to be able to take it one game at a time and go from there.”

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

The Islanders Hockey Club have attained that category that so many USPHL teams are seeking – they’re “Nationals staples.” With their fourth straight qualification, earned way back on March 3 following a 2-0 series victory against the Springfield Pics, the Islanders are no surprise to anyone when it comes to the end-of-year tournament.

The Islanders finished at 29-13-2-0, second to the New England Division’s other qualified team, the Northern Cyclones. The Islanders, who won the regular season division title in 2021 and 2022, have been second to the Cyclones the past two seasons.

The Islanders reached the Elite Nationals in the inaugural season of 2017-18, but missed that mark in 2018-19. The Islanders Elite program was dormant during 2019-20, but roared back to life in 2020-21 with its first of two straight New England titles and a return to Nationals for the first time in three years.

After going 1-2 at Nationals in 2021 – made the semifinals, falling to the host Northern Cyclones. In 2023, the Islanders finished 1-2 in the Round Robin.

“I’m very excited for the boys to earn their way to Nationals this year. It’s a huge accomplishment to be one of the final 10 teams playing and it’s a great event every year,” said Head Coach Kevin Smith. “With the number of players we have moving up [to the USPHL Premier Islanders Hockey Club] every year, each season is a new challenge with a new group. We have a handful of players who have experienced Nationals before, so we’ll be leaning on them heavily. But I’m looking forward to having our first year players see what the atmosphere and competition are like.”

The Islanders may have finished 26 points higher than the No. 3 seed Springfield Pics, but both games were one-goal defensive showdowns. The Islanders won Game 1 on March 2 2-1 in OT, and then just barely eked out a 1-0 win the next day. They faced a stellar goaltender in the Pics’ Shane McKone, who stopped 123 of 126 shots in the two games, including 55 of 56 in 1-0 loss.

“Our series against the Springfield Pics was the definition of playoff hockey. Both games were hard-fought one-goal games,” added Smith. “We had to battle a hard working team with a hot goalie and it was certainly a challenge for us. In the end, it was great preparation for what the team will face in Nationals.”

Though the Islanders only scored three goals in that series, the points were spread out among nine players each earning one assist, so there was great depth for the IHC in the postseason. Tagger Tamburo put up a 28-save shutout, and Kyle Mahan won Game 1 with 27 saves on 28 shots.

The Islanders have one of the longest stretches between games of any USPHL team, facing 18 days until their first seeding round game on March 21.

“After a difficult series, we took a few days off to recharge the batteries. From there, we’ve been working every day to nail down the details in all facets of our game,” said Smith. “We’ll try to play a scrimmage as we get a little closer to Utica but we want to make sure we are fresh and hit the ground running at Nationals.”

It’s required, because every team that got there went through the grinders of their division over 44 games apiece, then a playoff series to make it where they are, i.e. packing bags for Utica.

“There are a lot of teams who have a history of success in Nationals so we’ll certainly be keeping an eye on them,” said Smith. “But if a team can get through the grind of the regular season and playoffs, they’ve already proven themselves to be tough. It’s a deep field this year and all 10 teams have a chance to hold the trophy on the 25th.”

The Islanders will face the Tampa Bay Juniors and the defending National Champion Carolina Jr. Hurricanes. They haven’t faced either team this year, but played both at the 2023 Nationals, falling to the Jr. Canes 5-2 and defeating Tampa Bay, 6-4, in the former three-game round robin format.

The Dan K Show, the USPHL’s Broadcasting and Podcasting Partners, held the inaugural USPHL Nationals Selection Show on FloHockey on Wednesday night, and picked at random the Seeding Round match-ups (with the proviso that no teams in the same division can play each other).

All games will be played at the Utica University Nexus Center in Utica, N.Y. All games will be broadcast on FloHockey, the Exclusive Streaming Platform Of The USPHL.

Those match-ups are:

DAY ONE: (THURSDAY, MARCH 21st)
10 AM EST – Atlanta Mad Hatters @ Metro Jets
1230 PM EST – Rockets Hockey Club @ Northern Cyclones
3 PM EST – Potomac Patriots @ Wilkes Barre Scranton Knights
530 PM EST – Chicago Crush @ Carolina Jr Hurricanes
8 PM EST – Islanders Hockey Club @ Tampa Bay Juniors

DAY TWO: (FRIDAY, MARCH 22nd)
10 AM EST – Metro Jets @ Potomac Patriots
1230 PM EST – Northern Cyclones @ Atlanta Mad Hatters
3 PM EST – Carolina Jr Hurricanes @ Islanders Hockey Club
530 PM EST – Tampa Bay Juniors @ Rockets Hockey Club
8 PM EST – Wilkes Barre Scranton Knights @ Chicago Crush

From the Seeding Round, the top eight teams will be placed into a March 23 quarterfinal round, with the remaining two teams playing in a Consolation Game. The Elite semifinals will be played March 24, and the Elite National Championship Game will be played March 25.

Congratulations to all 10 of our #USPHLElite qualifiers for the 2024 #USPHLNationals, which will kick off in EIGHT Days at the @UticaNexus!

On Wednesday evening, every team will receive their Seeding Round Schedule as part of @The_DanKShow Elite Seeding Show at 7 p.m. Wednesday on @FloHockey

7 p.m.: Elite Live Selection Show – https://www.flohockey.tv/live/98469

8 p.m.: Premier Live Selection Show – https://www.flohockey.tv/live/98468

Check back on this space for team-by-team Nationals previews coming soon!

Midwest Division

Decatur Blaze (6) at Metro Jets (1)

All Games To Be Played At Mount Clemens Ice Arena, Mount Clemens, MI

Sunday, March 10, 12 p.m. EST

Monday, March 11, 11:30 a.m. EST

Tuesday, March 12, 11:30 a.m. EST (If Necessary)

By Joshua Boyd / USPHL Elite

The Metro Jets are looking for an organizational trifecta for the first time. After three straight years of the Metro Jets-MJDP duo making it to the USPHL Nationals, the Jets for the first time have a chance to bring three teams to the “big dance.”

This is the first season of the USPHL Elite’s Midwest Division, and thus the first season of the Metro Jets Elite team, along with that of their opponents, the Decatur Blaze. The Blaze also have a Premier team within their organization, one that earned the organization’s only Nationals berth in 2020, before that year’s Nationals were canceled.

The two teams come together after very different seasons, with the Jets finishing at 31-12-2-1 for 63 points, while Decatur’s Elite team was only able to win once during the regular season before eking out two first round wins against the No. 3 seed Motor City Gamblers last week.

The Jets, by virtue of finishing first in the division, earned a first round bye.

“We are fortunate that we earned a weekend off by winning the division,” said Jets Associate Head Coach Tina Ciraulo. “We took advantage of the break to heal up and focus on approaching our first playoff series. For many of our guys this is their first taste of playoffs, so we have been prepping for this for a while now and the guys are excited.”

During the regular season, the series went entirely to the Jets, 7-0, but the Blaze did push them once to overtime, as recently as Feb. 3, when the Jets won 3-2.

The Jets finished the season as the only team with three players in the top 10 of league scoring, led by Peter Spiridonakos (83 points), Blake Botterill (66 points) and Peter’s twin brother John Spiridonakos (64 points). Defenseman Avery Byron, with 30 points, was one of four defensemen to register at least 20 points. In net, always a strong point across the Jets organization, saw Elliot Duerr finish 9-5-0-0 and Zachary Robert finish 11-4-1-0, with save percentages of .916 and .911, respectively.

The Blaze’s leading scorer in the playoffs Jakub Tomecek was acquired from the Premier’s Hudson Havoc and played in five Blaze Elite games before registering four points in the two-game playoff series. Morgan Heck, who played in 18 games for the Elite season, went 2-0 in net against the Gamblers after stopping 79 of 88 shots during the season.

We know this is a different Decatur team than what we have seen all season. Our concern is “our approach to details and the most important is to stay disciplined,” added Ciraulo. “They are riding a high coming off an upset in their first series and our job is to ensure it stops with us.”

Atlantic Division

P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (2) vs. Rockets Hockey Club (3)

All Games At The Rinx, Hauppauge, NY

Saturday, March 9, 7:10 p.m. EST

Sunday, March 10, 11:40 a.m. EST

Monday, March 11, 10:40 a.m. EST (If Necessary)

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

The Rockets Hockey Club were getting to that point where they were enjoying being part of “the Nationals crowd,” making the national tournament in 2021 and 2022. Last season, they fell just a bit shy of their goal after running into a WBS Knights buzzsaw.

This year, the Rockets are facing an all-new opponent. The P.A.L. Jr. Islanders just opened their Elite program in 2022-23 and already this year, they have attained the second seed in the Atlantic Division.

“We’re expecting this to be a good series,” said Islanders Asst. Coach/Asst. GM Rob Antonucci. “Our goal is to play simple, fast and hard hockey. We know we’ve split with the Rockets over the course of the season and know how they play and what they’re capable of, but we also know our strengths are and look to play to them this weekend.”

The Rockets and P.A.L. did exactly split the year at 3-3, including splitting the final weekend of February, in which P.A.L. won 5-4 and then the Rockets won 4-0 on the 24th and 25th.

“The match-ups this season against P.A.L. have been fairly even in terms of wins and losses, but we know we control our own destiny and that’s been the message all season,” said Rockets Head Coach Todd Wagenbach. “Our guys have gone through it this season and we are now healthy enough to win this series and go to Utica. Anything less would be extremely disappointing.”

Let’s just say the Rockets have some good offense and leave it at that. Moving on. Just kidding. We have to mention that two-year Rocket John Crowdell is the USPHL Elite’s all-time leading scorer for a career (191 points). He scored 108 points this year, as well which was the second highest single season total in the Elite’s seven-year history – the first was set by Crowdell’s teammate and fellow Staten Island, N.Y., resident Jace Lombardo with 113 points.

Defenseman Justin Modzelewski with 34 points in 42 games was the third-leading scorer after the two century club members.

Rockets goalie Joseph Auletti put up a .940 save percentage to rank third in the USPHL Elite this year, and he went 12-3-0-0 in the season. He finished on a five-game winning streak. Eric Rosati had the 32-save shutout against P.A.L. on Feb. 25, and Tony Macaluso has also earned a win over the past couple weeks.

“We’ve known for a couple weeks now that we would face P.A.L., we just didn’t know where,” said Wagenbach. “We’ve been preparing for this all season and now it’s win or go home. Getting to Nationals has been the ultimate goal for this group since Day 1. We are ready.”

“Our team quote,” added P.A.L.’s Antonucci, is ‘Being ready is not what only matters. What matters is winning now that we are there,’” he said.

The group that will have to be fully there at the Rinx has been led offensively by Justin Morrissey all year – he had 82 points in 42 games. Lucas Lewin (65 points) and Bobby Trites (47 points in 32 games) provided outstanding depth. Second-year defenseman Peter Allen had 37 points this year from the blue line to rank in the top 10 of defenseman points in the league.

Goaltender Christopher Lucente went 15-7-1-0 with a .922 save percentage, and Luke Pavone went 8-5-0-0 on the year.

Tampa Bay Juniors (1) vs. Florida Jr. Blades (4)

All Games At Fort Myers Skatium, Fort Myers, FL

Saturday, March 9, 12:30 p.m. EST

Sunday, March 10, 9:30 a.m. EST (Jr. Blades are Home Team For Game 2)

Monday, March 11, 12:30 p.m. EST (If Necessary)

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

The Tampa Bay Juniors Elite program have had a great run since the formation of the current USPHL Elite conference in 2017. They have qualified for five of the first six Nationals, and the one year they would have missed the event, it ended up being canceled (2020).

The regular season Florida Division champions get a chance to make it four Nationals in a row if they can get past a Florida Jr. Blades team that is not taking this opportunity lightly.

A Nationals team in 2018, the Jr. Blades Elite program experienced some lean years since then, missing the divisional playoffs in 2020, 2021 and 2023. While the Jr. Blades’ chances for the top spot faded earlier in the season, they were able to build plenty of space between themselves and the non-playoff fifth and sixth positions to safely earn a postseason berth.

Tampa Bay won all six of their 2023-24 regular season meetings this year, but the final one on Feb. 10 was a 6-5 OT victory.

“We are expecting a tough series,” said Tampa Head Coach Garrett Strot. “Last time we played them it went to overtime. They have a few players that played a little bit of Premier this season, so will be a dangerous team.“

“Tampa has been the team to beat this season. We have played them tough all season however, falling short each game. Our last game against the Juniors we were able to force them into overtime taking a point,” added Doug Rose, Jr. Blades Head Coach. “We’ve watched our team improve immensely this season as the boys became used to the pace of the Florida Division.

Florida’s Vincent Faggioli-DeLong became a huge offensive contributor towards the end of the season, scoring 17 points in a point streak over his last eight games of the season, one he certainly hopes to extend on Saturday in Fort Myers. He finished the season with 32 points in 39 games.

Max Stek was second with 29 points, and both Sebastian Mason (22 points) and Joshua Mason (20 points) split the season between Premier and Elite. Sebastian Mason led in plus-minus with a +13, while defenseman Maksymilian Matys blocked 68 shots this year.

Logan Millar was the leading goalie for the Jr. Blades by putting up a .913 save percentage this year. Chase O’Dea also registered a win late in the season, while Giordan Gulati rounds out the goaltending trio.

“We have been keeping practices intense, video sessions focused, and time in the weight room disciplined,” said Rose. “The Juniors move the puck well and have great skill. I am expecting a fast-paced game from both teams! Our guys are excited for the challenge ahead of them coming in as the fourth seed. We’ve done our preparation now it’s up to them to come together for the logo.”

The Juniors were loaded with some of the division’s top performers overall, many of whom are local Tampa-area products. This includes locals Dylan Hineman (54 points), Kevin Rosello (52), and Mookie Killen (40 points). Defenseman Jacob Munkwitz (41 points in 40 games) joined from New York this year and has been a fantastic two-way player. Hineman and Colorado’s Lucas Gonzalez were the plus-minus leaders with a +38. D-man Andrew Wagenhauser, out of Ohio, led the way in blocked shots with 41.

In the net, Tampa is led by Ethan Carlone, Marcus Benzrihem and Shane Passaro. Carlone lost only three games in the season for his second straight year. His two-year career record is 23-6-0-1 and he put up a .924 save percentage this year. Passaro led the trio with 13 wins, and Benzrihem had a .945 save percentage in going 8-2-0-0. Coach Strot certainly feels confident in the group he’s bringing to the ice.

“We had a very good week of practice,” said Strot. “The guys had good jump and are excited to get going.”