Florida Eels Alumni Lead the Charge Into College Playoffs

by Joshua Boyd

February 19, 2025February 19, 2025

By Florida Eels Staff Two Florida Eels and USPHL Premier Alumni Gage Dill and Taurin Haddon-Harris are leading the charge as Curry College marches on to a potential NCAA Division III title. Both Dill and Haddon-Harris were Florida Eels standouts making numerous USPHL Nationals Appearances and have had continued success in the college ranks at […]

Seven USPHL Junior Alumni Named To Team USA Roster For 2025 World University Games

by Joshua Boyd

November 15, 2024November 15, 2024

By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com The United States Premier Hockey League congratulates its seven Junior alumni who were named to the Team USA squad that will play at the World University Games, running Jan. 12-23, 2025, to be held in Torino, Italy. The alumni include five former USPHL Premier players and four who played in […]

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights 10, P.A.L. Jr. Islanders 6

It was a real track meet between the WBS Knights and P.A.L. Jr. Islanders when the Knights evened up their W Atlantic Division Championship series with a 10-6 win. Alec James scored two goals and added two assists, Brody Polacek scored two goals, Matvei Orlov scored one goal and added five assists, and Ilya Buranov posted four assists. Samvel Barsegyan, Grayson Crowe and Owen Scott each had two points as well. Alexander Insana stopped 26 of 32 shots. The third and deciding game kicks off at 12:30 p.m. EST Sunday.

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

The Chicago Crush have swept their USPHL Elite Midwest Division Championship series and are headed to the USPHL Nationals for a second straight season. They defeated the Fort Wayne Spacemen, 5-2, on Friday to advance.

Read the Crush’s own take on the series and their season.

Troy Naill scored the GWG in the final 26 seconds of the first period, Cole Darlas scored a goal and an assist, and Daniel Gurtner made 17 saves on 19 shots for the win. Brendan Kusbel played strong in net for Fort Wayne with 45 saves on 48 shots. The Crush will hold the No. 5 seed in the Nationals, which will begin on March 20 in Wayne, N.J.

The Crush reached the Nationals last year in Utica, N.Y., and they are thrilled to be making a return trip as only a second-year program.

After the series-clinching win, Head Coach Phil Bushbacher was both proud and reflective.

“Back-to-back trips to Nationals speaks volumes to the character of this group,” he said. “We’ve got a locker room full of guys who are willing to sacrifice, work hard, and play for each other. That’s what it takes to win at this level.”

But Bushbacher knows the job isn’t finished.

“We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we’re not satisfied. Nationals is a different beast. We need to tighten up defensively, stay disciplined, and keep playing our game. If we do that, we’ve got as good a shot as anyone,” he added.

Chicago Crush 5, Fort Wayne Spacemen 2

The Chicago Crush have swept their Midwest Division Championship series and are headed to the Nationals for a second straight season. They defeated the Fort Wayne Spacemen, 5-2, on Friday to advance. Troy Naill scored the GWG in the final 26 seconds of the first period, Cole Darlas scored a goal and an assist, and Daniel Gurtner made 17 saves on 19 shots for the win. Brendan Kusbel played strong in net for Fort Wayne with 45 saves on 48 shots. The Crush will hold the No. 5 seed in the Nationals, which will begin on March 20 in Wayne, N.J.

P.A.L. Jr. Islanders 5, WBS Knights 4

The Jr. Islanders are up 1-0 in their #USPHLElite Atlantic Division Championship series against the WBS Knights, following a 5-4 regulation win on Friday. The Islanders scored five straight goals in the third period to come back from a 3-0 deficit. Anthony Galtieri and Nicholas Morolla each scored two goals and an assist. Morolla’s empty net goal for his second of the game stood up as the GWG in the end. Jake Strong scored a goal and added one assist. Dominik Feiler stopped 33 of 37 shots for the win. Anthony Shaw stopped 32 of 36 shots Game 2 is at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Chicago Crush 2, Fort Wayne Spacemen 0

The Crush are one win away from a return to the USPHL Elite Nationals, after they defeated the Fort Wayne Spacemen 2-0 in the Midwest Division Championship series for a 1-0 series lead. Johnny Augusta stopped all 24 shots he faced for the shutout win and John Martino scored both goals. Connor Edwards had two assists for the Crush. In net for Fort Wayne, Brendan Kusbel was impressive with 38 saves on 39 shots. Game 2 is at 12:30 p.m. CST Friday.

The USPHL Elite Islanders Hockey Club team have become the latest team to qualify for the #USPHLNationals, to be held March 20-24 in Wayne, N.J.! The Islanders defeated the defending National Champion Northern Cyclones in two games to win the New England Division championship with a 3-0 win on Tuesday.

Cole Kelly stopped all 26 shots he faced during the game for the shutout win. Goals were scored by Nicholas Posthumus, Sullivan Hauser, and Vincent Leclerc – and Leclerc also had an assist. The Cyclones’ Nick Cowles was also strong in net with 40 saves on 42 shots. Congratulations and best of luck to the IHC at Nationals!

The Islanders won two decisive games against the No. 4 seed South Shore Kings to advance to the New England Finals against the Cyclones. In Game 1 on Monday, they won 4-1 to set up today’s closeout of the series.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way this group has come together. We started off the season 0-3, and then went 4-6 in our first 10 games before starting to put it together,” said Head Coach Kevin Smith. “From there, we never looked back and finished the regular season at 33-8-3.

“The depth of this team is our biggest asset. We have 12 players who scored more than 30 points during the regular season and we can roll 14 forwards, seven defensemen, and three goalies that all contribute to our success,” Smith added.

Congratulations and best of luck to the Islanders in Wayne, N.J.!

Forwards:

Brady Stevens, Northern Cyclones

Stevens (‘05/Newburyport, Mass.) put up five goals and seven assists for 12 points during his eight regular season games of February. He scored 59 points in 44 games this season.

Ryan Netkovick, Springfield Pics

Netkovick (‘07/South Hadley, Mass.) scored six goals and added 10 assists for 16 points in eight games, good for exactly 2.0 points per game last month. Netkovick finished with 49 points in 43 games.

Brendan Birmingham, Springfield Pics

Birmingham (‘04/Ellington, Conn.) scored four goals and added seven assists for 11 points to close out his junior career with the Pics. He finished with 63 points for this season, improving by more than 40 points from his first season’s total. He finished with 85 points in 77 career Pics games.

Honorable Mention: Andrew Nemec, Northern Cyclones

Defensemen:

Jackson Bulthaup, Northern Cyclones

Bulthaup (‘05/Big Rock, Ill.) scored four goals and added four assists for eight points in eight games in February. He finished the season with a 16-22-38 line in 44 games.

Gavin O’Keefe, Islanders Hockey Club

O’Keefe (‘05/Reading, Mass.) scored four goals and also registered six assists for 10 points during his final regular season month, averaging 1.25 points per game. He posted 39 points in 43 games this season.

Defense Honorable Mention: Alexander Zygmanski, Northern Cyclones

Goaltender:

Osvaldo Agostini, Northern Cyclones

Agostini (‘06/Pierrefonds, Que.) went 4-0-0-0 during the month of February, including three shutouts – including a 31-save beauty against the Springfield Pics. Agostini finished 9-3-0-0 with a .920 save percentage.

Goaltender Honorable Mention: Tagger Tamburo, Islanders Hockey Club

Selection Process: The division’s coaches are presented with a ballot form with statistical leaders (ranked by points per game average for skaters and save percentage for goaltenders) and vote on that form. The league takes the results of that vote and presents the coaches with the finalists, who are able to vote on further changes if desired.

Summaries by Joshua Boyd

Florida Division

Caleb Rae, Florida Jr. Blades

Rae (‘07/Stouffville, Ont.) closed out his first USPHL season absolutely on fire, posting 66 points in 44 games – this coming from a line of 33-33-66. He scored 12 goals and added 13 assists for 25 points in 11 games in February.

Dylan Hineman, Tampa Bay Juniors

Hineman (‘06/Odessa, Fla.) scored 10 goals and added eight assists for 18 points during February. He is huge contributor to a Juniors team that would go on to earn a Nationals berth for the fifth straight year. For the season, Hineman scored 61 points and for his two-year career, he has 114 points in 73 games. With the Premier Juniors, he played in five games this year, earning two points.

Joshua Mason, Florida Jr. Blades

Mason (‘07/Toronto, Ont.) put in 11 goals and added eight assists for 19 points in the final regular season month of February. His 53 points this year were more than double his first two seasons’ point totals combined. He also played in 12 Premier games this year and he has 29 games worth of experience at that level.

Honorable Mention: Ethan Palso, Tampa Bay Juniors

Defense:

Carter Trussler, Tampa Bay Juniors

A three-year veteran of the Juniors, Trussler (‘06/Land O Lakes, Fla.) scored a goal and 10 assists for 11 points to close out the regular season. His 46 points this year equaled exactly his first two seasons’ points totals combined. He has 92 points over the course of 123 games.

Ty Elzinga, Florida Eels

In seven games over February, Elzinga (‘07/Cape Coral, Fla.) registered three goals and added five assists for eight points. In his second year, he put up 27 points in 42 games, a better than three-fold improvement on his first season totals. He also got a call-up for two Premier games this season.

Goaltender

Marcus Benzrihem, Tampa Bay Juniors

Benzrihem (‘05/Odessa, Fla.) went 4-0 during his February games, stopping 83 of 88 shots including shutouts of 27 and 16 saves against the Florida Jr. Blades and Atlanta MadHatters, respectively. He closed his season with a 13-1-1-0 with a .924 save percentage. He has 23 wins and a .915 save percentage in his three-year career of 32 regular season games.

Honorable Mention: Dylan Mize, Tampa Bay Juniors

Summaries by Joshua Boyd

Forwards:

Braylen Cox, Potomac Patriots

Cox (‘05/Nashville, Tenn.) was everywhere the Patriots needed him to be throughout the month of February’s regular season games. He scored six goals and added nine assists for 15 points in seven games. He finished with 53 points this season, more than double his total from his first two Elite seasons, combined.

Dominykas Jurjevas, Potomac Patriots

Jurjevas (‘04/Elektrenai, Lithuania) scored six goals and added eight assists for 14 points during eight February regular season games. He joined later this season, but still managed to post 19 points in 12 games prior to the playoffs. That closed his regular season career with 112 points in 75 games.

Curren Stukey, Hampton Roads Whalers

Stukey (‘06/Golden, Colo.) scored four goals and four assists during his six regular season games in February. He finished the season with 24 points in 28 games.

Forward Honorable Mention: Kayden Suy, Potomac Patriots

Defensemen:

Nikolai Shevchenko, Potomac Patriots

Shevchenko (‘07/Kaliningrad, Russia) registered three goals and added six assists for nine points to end the regular season in February, giving him a 1.13 points per game average. He scored 29 points in 41 games for this first season with Potomac. He also earned a call-up to the Premier team.

Jack Ray, Carolina Jr. Hurricanes

Ray helped the Jr. Canes make their return to the USPHL Nationals, but before that, he closed his regular season with three goals and two assists for five points in five games. The ‘06 from Pinehurst, N.C., finished up the regular season with 15 points in 40 games.

Defense Honorable Mention: Ashton Lesher, Charlotte Rush

Goaltender:

Benicio Castellucci, Potomac Patriots

Castellucci (‘07/Springfield, Va.) made 125 saves on 133 shots, giving him a .940 save percentage for the month. During February’s regular season games, he went 3-1-0-0. He finished the season 5-3-0-2 with a .936 save percentage.

Goaltender Honorable Mention: Owen Nasholds, Carolina Jr. Hurricanes

Summaries by Joshua Boyd

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com

The Juniors are headed to Wayne, N.J., for the 2025 USPHL Elite National Championships. Today, they defeated the Florida Division runner-up Palm Beach Typhoon by a 3-1 score to advance to Nationals, which will be held March 20-24.

The Tampa Bay Juniors Elite team claim Seed #1 at Elite Nationals.

Kelan Jamison, Dylan Hineman and Jan Zeman each scored goals, with Hineman’s goal at 16:03 of the second standing as the GWG. In net, Marcus Benzrihem stopped 19 of 20 shots for the win. Palm Beach’s Jasper Brophy was impressive for his team with 35 stops on 37 shots.

Prior to Monday’s game, the Juniors won their first two games by scores of 3-2 against Palm Beach on Friday and 4-1 against the Florida Eels.

The Juniors previously qualified for Elite Nationals in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

“The Elite team has had high expectations all year but we knew getting through the Florida Divisional Playoffs was not going to be easy,” said Tampa Head Coach Garrett Strot. “Palm Beach was playing their best hockey coming in and we just squeezed by them in Game 1. The Eels always give us tough games like we had in Game 2. Game 3 we saw Palm Beach again and it was another close game.”

Tampa Bay Juniors 3, Palm Beach Typhoon 1

The Juniors are headed to Wayne, N.J., for the 2025 USPHL Elite National Championships. On Moday, they defeated the Florida Division runner-up Palm Beach Typhoon by a 3-1 score to advance to Nationals, which will be held March 20-24. The Tampa Bay Juniors Elite team claim Seed #1 at Elite Nationals.

Fort Wayne Spacemen 4, Metro Jets 3 (OT)

The Spacemen defeated the Metro Jets, 4-3, in overtime in Game 3 of their Elite Midwest Semifinal series on Monday. This set up a championship final with the Chicago Crush, with a #USPHLNationals berth on the line. Dylan Davis scored the #OTGWG, Hayden Stratman scored twice, Tyson Finefrock scored a goal and added an assist, and Morgan Blair registered two assists. Goaltender Brendan Kusbel stopped 31 of 34 shots for Fort Wayne, and Kristofer Hatch was strong for the Jets with 48 saves on 52 shots.

Islanders Hockey Club 4, Northern Cyclones 1

The Islanders have begun their USPHL Elite New England Division Championship series with a win and are just one win away from the division title and a USPHL Nationals berth. IHC won 4-1, with Nicholas Posthumus scoring the first two goals of the game for IHC, including the winner. Vincent LeClerc had two assists and Cole Kelly made 22 saves on 23 shots for the win. For the Cyclones, Nick Cowles made 27 saves on 30 shots. Game 2 is at 12 p.m. on Tuesday.

P.A.L. Jr. Islanders 5, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights 2

The Jr. Islanders advance to the USPHL Elite Atlantic Division championship series against the WBS Knights, following their 2-1 series win against the Elmira Impact on Monday. Jack Chaitman scored a hat trick, and Nicholas Morolla had a goal and two assists. Jake Strong registered two assists, and in net, Dominik Feiler stopped 39 of 41 shots for P.A.L. Elmira’s goalie Andrew Coston was also strong for his team with 40 saves on 43 shots.