By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
We start right off by acknowledging the history made over the past week. The more recent of the South Shore Kings’ two wins tied the record for most wins in a row in NCDC history, as they tied the 2018-19 Jersey Hitmen with 19 consecutive victories. The other Dineen Cup Champion from the past two seasons – the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders – are also on a massive streak of gaining points, with 14 straight productive outings (12-0-1-1). In the Mountain Division, the Ogden Mustangs and Idaho Falls Spud Kings are both enjoying hot streaks, but the defending champion South Shore Kings are doing the best of any defending Dineen Cup Champion in the NCDC’s eight-year history.
Mercer Chiefs Win Three In A Row To Pass 30-Point Milestone
The Chiefs are enjoying their top five spot in the NCDC overall, being one of only five teams that have crossed the 30-point mark approaching Thanksgiving. On Nov. 20, the Chiefs defeated the Jersey Hitmen – a team they will face again on Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 27 – and they also picked up 4-2 wins against the West Chester Wolves and Rockets Hockey Club on Nov. 23 and 24. At 15-7-0-0, they are enjoying their best season yet at the 22-game milestone.
- The Chiefs’ Jake Stevens (‘05/Newton, N.J.) picked up a pair of assists over the last week to take over a share of the league’s assist lead, with 17.
- Goaltender Domenick Gatto (‘05/St. Charles, Ill.) won all three games in net over the past week, which gave him 32 wins for his career. That broke Gatto into the Top 10 all-time for NCDC in wins (and his 12th victory also put him in a share of the league lead).
Idaho Falls Spud Kings Remain In Second On Strength Of Six-Game Point Streak
The Spud Kings will not yield an inch, as they are right in the middle of an intense – even if still relatively early – three-way battle for first place. They are one point behind the division-leading Ogden Mustangs and one point ahead of the Utah Outliers. Although it may only be pre-Thanksgiving November, it is still important for teams to hold onto every high promontory they can, especially in such an even-handed division. The Spud Kings recently defeated the Rock Springs Grizzlies on Nov. 22 and lost 3-2 against the Ogden Mustangs in a shootout.
- Rookie goalie Charlie Durkin (‘06/Glencoe, Ill.) earned two victories and pushed his way into the top four of victories with his 10th.
- He’s back! Defenseman D.J. MacLeish (‘05/Troy, Mich.) re-signed with the Spud Kings prior to their Nov. 14-15 weekend series and this past weekend, he got right into an NCDC leaderboard with his shootout winner against the division-leading Ogden Mustangs on Nov. 23. He became one of only four defensemen this year with a shootout goal, and one of only two (joining the Islanders Hockey Club’s Jake Freelove) with a shootout winner. It was his second shootout winner and fourth shootout goal on five career attempts in 54 career NCDC regular season games.
Brightest Days For The Kingdom Continue On 19-Game Winning Streak
With the Dineen Cup in house constantly keeping the South Shore Kings motivated, it’s not looking good for anyone with the defending champs on their calendar. After falling in their season opener on Sept. 19 to the Thunder Hockey Club, the Kings have not lost since that day, a span of 69 days and 19 games. The Kings will come back to action on Dec. 5 certainly well rested after a nearly two-week break and hope to pick up right where they left off. This past week, they defeated the Boston Jr. Rangers, 6-3, on Nov. 20 and then finished their November games against the Thunder Hockey Club with a 5-0 victory to tie the winning streak record on Nov. 22.
- Both Will Rassier (‘04/Princeton, N.J.) and Jake Kavanagh (‘05/Montreal, Que.) improved to 17 assists on the season, which put them into a five-way tie for first in assists in the NCDC entering Wednesday.
- Defensemen Jason Zaccari (‘05/Santa Ana, Calif.), Gregor Jennersjo (‘04/Stockholm, Sweden) and Zachary Walsh (‘05/Lake View, N.Y.) hold the 3-4-5 spots in overall defenseman scoring with 17, 16 and 15 points, respectively. In the obvious department, no other team has three defensemen in the top five. Zaccari and Jennersjo are also third and fourth in assists with 14 and 13, respectively.
Utah Outliers Pick Up Sweep To Remain Tight With Mountain Leaders
The Outliers are back to where they wanted to be, winning straight games this past weekend against the Casper Warbirds (6-3 and 7-2). They had gone into that series after falling in three straight, so it was an important weekend for Utah to keep pace. They are currently just two points back of the division-leading Ogden Mustangs and one back of the Idaho Falls Spud Kings.
- Garrett Joss, the Outliers’ top scorer in their two NCDC seasons, scored his way into a share of the top spot for goal-scoring. The 2004-born, Whitby, Ont., native has scored six goals in his last four games including two in each of the games against Casper, improving to 15 goals on the season. He has 82 points in 63 games.
- Marcus Ouellet (‘04/Toronto, Ont.) continues to rack up the bulk of wins for Utah, earning his eighth of the season on Nov. 23. He stands at 8-2-1-2 with a .928 save percentage.
Boston Jr. Rangers Get On Winning Streak To End November
The Jr. Rangers ended their November schedule on a high note, winning a pair of games against the Islanders Hockey Club (6-3) and Worcester Railers JHC (3-2) on Nov. 23 and 25. On Nov. 20, they were on the wrong side of win No. 18 in a row for the South Shore Kings, falling 6-3.
- Mathieu Fournier (‘04/Quebec City, Que.), who joined the Jr. Rangers in their jump from the EHL to the NCDC, moved into the top 10 of NCDC scoring with his three-point performance (2-1-3) over the past three contests. He now has 22 points in 24 games on the season.
- Goaltenders Stephen Chen (‘05/Beijing, China) and Mason Jones (‘05/Auburn, N.Y.) each have three wins, comprising the majority of the Rangers’ six victories. They also have an impressive .919 save percentage between them.
Worcester Railers Junior Hockey Club Goes 2-1-0-0
The Boston Jr. Rangers’ co-tenants at the Worcester Ice Center, the Jr. Railers also shared the same record since Jan. 20, going 2-1-0-0. The Jr. Rangers started their week of action with a 3-0 win over the Seacoast Spartans. They followed that up with a 2-1 overtime win against the Utica Jr. Comets on Nov. 24. The next day, the Jr. Rangers defeated the Railers by a 3-2 mark. Guess who does the dishes.
- Cole Scullion (‘06/Burlington, Ont.) holds six of the Jr. Railers’ eight wins and he also registered the first shutout in their NCDC history on Nov. 21 against the Spartans.
- Colby Dobek (‘05/Durkin, N.Y.) remains the NCDC team’s leading scorer with 16 points in 19 games.
P.A.L. Earns Three Points To Remain Unbeaten In Regulation Through 15
The Jr. Islanders have done enough to remain in first place in the Atlantic Division, tied with the Jersey Hitmen. Enough in this case is to be unbeaten in regulation going back to an Oct. 4 loss to the West Chester Wolves. Since then, they are 12-0-2-1, the second best point streak after the historic Kings winning run. Over the past week, they faced the Jr. Rangers twice, winning 3-1 on Nov. 22 at home and falling 2-1 in a shootout on the road on Nov. 24.
- Lukas Vejmelka (‘04/Trebic, Czechia) earned the Nov. 22 win, and stopping 32 of 33 in that game gave him a .942 save percentage, pushing him into the top five league-wide in that category. His 785 minutes are also good for fifth in the league.
- Carson Nickulas (‘04/Barnstable, Mass.) scored his fifth goal of the season, which tied him with teammate Aiden Holland (‘05/Topsfield, Mass.) for a share of the league lead in goals by defensemen.
Utica Jr. Comets Earn Points In Three Straight
Going back to Nov. 15, the Jr. Comets’ three consecutive trips to eastern New England have paid some dividends. They are 2-0-1-0 in their last season and remain in fifth, though the Worcester Railers JHC have pulled up to within a point. Most recently, on Nov. 23, the Jr. Comets defeated the Northern Cyclones, 3-1, before falling the next day, 2-1, in the overtime to Worcester.
- Daniel Urban (‘04/Orchard Park, N.Y.) registered his 10th power play point of the season on his fourth man-up goal on Nov. 24. He leads the NCDC in power play points alone, with several at nine points behind him.
- Goaltenders Michael Valenta (‘05/Sumperk, Czechia) and Dylan Eliason (‘04/Northville, Mich.) have split the Jr. Comets’ eight wins evenly, with four apiece.
Pueblo Bulls Pick Up 11th Win Of Season
The Bulls played in just one game over the past week, earning a 3-2 win against the Rock Springs Grizzlies on Nov. 23. A week earlier, they had fallen also in Wyoming to the Grizzlies. The Bulls improved to 11-8-1-0 to tie the third place Utah Outliers’ in wins and they trail Utah in points by three.
Several Teams Approach Thanksgiving With .500 Weeks
Splitting two – or even three – games was the trend for no less than six teams across the NCDC last week.
- The Connecticut Jr. Rangers split against the Jr. Islanders, winning 2-1 in a shootout and falling 3-1.
- The Northern Cyclones – five points back of the South Shore Kings and 10 ahead of the Islanders Hockey Club – fell 3-1 to Utica and then defeated the Seacoast Spartans, 5-4, in a shootout.
- The Thunder Hockey Club stand in fourth in New England, two points back of the Islanders Hockey Club. They defeated the Islanders 4-3 on Nov. 21, and then fell the next day, 5-0, to the South Shore Kings in their historic victory.
- The West Chester Wolves are in fourth in the Atlantic, four points back of third place and four ahead of fifth. They defeated the Rockets Hockey Club, 3-0, on Nov. 22, and then fell 4-2 to the Mercer Chiefs on Nov. 23.
- The Seacoast Spartans played in three games, earning a win, a loss and an OT loss. On Nov. 20, the Spartans defeated the Boston Dogs, 4-2, and that was followed by a 3-0 loss to the Railers the next day. On Nov. 24, the Spartans fell 5-4 in the shootout against the Cyclones.
