USPHL Premier This Week: West Edition

By Joshua Boyd / USPHLPremier.com

What a week across the United States Premier Hockey League’s Premier Conference, especially with teams competing in two big showcases in Massachusetts (the Islanders Hockey Club Showcase) and Michigan (the USPHL Detroit Showcase). The Detroit Showcase featured all of the Great Lakes and Midwest Division teams, as well as many other teams joining from the Canada, Atlantic and North Divisions. The Metro Jets were the host team for the Detroit Showcase and they put up a 4-0 record at the event, and they remain one of the league leaders.

However, it was the Vernal Oilers winning their 20th straight game since the start of the season, who officially made history. That tied the Metro Jets’ own 20-0 start of 2021-22 for the best starts to a Premier season in the league’s eight-year history.

We’ll take a look here below at the top-performing teams for games played between Nov. 21 and 27.

 

Great Lakes Division 

Metro Jets Sweep Detroit Showcase, Extend Winning Streak To Six Games

The Jets took care of business, putting on one heck of a show in front of their hometown crowd at Mount Clemens Ice Arena, winning all four of their games at the USPHL Detroit Showcase as hosts. The Jets started out on Nov. 21 by defeating the Minnesota Blue Ox, 5-2. In their next game, they faced their rivals of more than three decades across multiple leagues, the Toledo Cherokee, winning 4-2. They carried on with wins on Nov. 24 against the Fort Wayne Spacemen (5-1) and Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings (8-1). 

• Rostislav Efremov (‘04/Vladivostok, Russia) improved to 8-0 on the season, winning the games against the Blue Ox and Fort Wayne. He improved his save percentage from .947 for fourth to .949 for second. He’s also second league-wide in goals against average at 1.28 per game. His 8-0 record is second best in the league only to the 16-0 mark put up by Vernal’s Levente Hegedus. 
• Pierce Ashcroft (‘04/Milford, Mich.) is leading the team with 28 points in 19 games. He played in his 100th career Premier game – and all with the Jets organization, formerly playing with MJDP – during the showcase and now has 73 points in 102 games. 

 

Elsewhere In The Great Lakes Division

• The Columbus Mavericks kept pace with the Jets and the Toledo Cherokee (3-1-0-0) in terms of maintaining their third place position in the Great Lakes. The Mavericks went 3-1-0-0 at the USPHL Detroit Showcase. They defeated the Chicago Cougars 4-1, fell to the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings 4-2 and came back with consecutive wins against the Motor City Gamblers, 7-3, and defeated the Metro Jets Development Program, 4-2.  
• The Cherokee’s only loss at the Detroit Showcase was to the host Jets, as they defeated the Chicago Crush 7-0, the Minnesota Blue Ox 3-1 and the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings 3-0, with the 4-2 loss to the Jets coming one game prior to their shutout win. 

 

North Division 

Minnesota Squatch Win Two In A Row To Tie For Division Lead

The Squatch bounced back from a Nov. 16 loss to the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings by putting two wins up against the Dells Ducks at the Squatch’s home rink. The first game was a tight 5-4 decision, the second was more decisive for the Squatch, who utilized the four points to tie for first with the Riverkings going into the Thanksgiving weekend. 

• Cannon Bonifay (‘04/Fort Worth, Texas) put up his fourth hat trick of the season on Nov. 23, and improved to 24 goals – good for second in the USPHL Premier. He currently has 45 points in 20 games this season. His 133 points in 59 games since the start of last season are the third most since the start of the 2023-24 season, and just one point behind the 134 posted by Premier leading scorer Roman Wolynec at second. 
• The Squatch improved to 5.75 goals per game, pushing themselves from seventh to sixth in that category after their 15-goal weekend. 

 

Elsewhere In The North Division

• The Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings did just enough at the USPHL Detroit Showcase – though they certainly left hoping to do more – in keeping their share of the North Division lead nearing the exit to November and at just past the midpoint of the 44-game season. They went 2-2-0-0 at the USPHL Detroit Showcase, starting with a 4-2 win over the Columbus Mavericks and a 2-0 defeat of the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones. They closed with the aforementioned 6-1 loss to Metro and 3-0 loss to Toledo. 
• The Steele County Blades played just one game over the past week, closing November with an 8-4 win over the Hudson Havoc. At 2-0 against Hudson this year, the Blades have already improved on their 1-4-0-0 record against the Havoc last season. They also extended a division-best active winning streak to three games. 

 

Pacific Division

Fresno Monsters Enjoy Three-Game Sweep 

Two weeks after a tough set of three games against the 20-0 Vernal Oilers, the Monsters got back to their winning ways by picking up a three-game sweep of their own. They defeated the Vernal Oilers, with scores of 8-2 and 7-3 bookending an even more decisive shutout in the middle. They remain in fifth place in points in the Pacific Division, but their .667 winning percentage is second best on that circuit. 

• Nils Tunbratt (‘05/Goteborg, Sweden) was strong in the man-down situations, scoring two shorties on the weekend, the first part of a 3-2-5 performance on Nov. 22. Doubling his prior shorthanded goals total from two to four put him in a three-way tie for first in the Premier in that category. 
• Alex McIsaac (‘06/Albert, Sask.) had assists on both of Tunbratt’s shorthanded goals, putting him into sole possession of the league lead in shorthanded assists with four. 

 

Elsewhere In The Pacific Division  

• The Ontario Jr. Reign went three games without a regulation loss, playing Long Beach on Nov. 22 (5-4 OT loss), Bakersfield on Nov. 23 (5-3 win) and the Ventura Vikings on Nov. 26 (11-4 win). They are 3-0-1-0 in their last four games and they have moved from fourth a week ago into a tie for second heading into Friday’s game against Long Beach. 
• The Lake Tahoe Lakers Went 2-1-0-0 over the past week against the Henderson Force and pushed once again past the 20-0 Vernal Oilers to take first in the USPHL Premier overall heading into Thanksgiving. They defeated the Force, 5-4, fell 4-2, and then rebounded with a 4-3 win during the Nov. 22-24 series. 
• By the end of Friday, Nov. 29, the Bombers will have faced Ontario on consecutive Friday nights. On Nov. 22, the Bombers picked up the overtime win – their first in the USPHL Premier, by a 5-4 score. Magnus Lowham (‘04/Jackson, Wyoming) scored the first-ever Bombers overtime goal. 

 

Northwest Division 

Vernal Oilers Win 20th Straight Game To Tie Record For Best Start

The Oilers made some league history, tying the 2021-22 Metro Jets for best record from the start of a season when the Oilers defeated the Iron County Yeti on Nov. 23 by a decisive score to gain their 20th straight victory. The Jets had gone 20-0 three seasons ago before falling at the IHC Showcase to the Charlotte Rush. The Oilers have a chance on Dec. 6 to break the record tie when they face Iron County again, this time at home.  

• Roni Alanko (‘05/Helsinki, Finland) and Kasper Pohjala (‘05/Helsinki, Finland) both broke into the Top 10 of USPHL Premier scoring with their production in that game, with Pohjala standing at seventh with 46 points and Alanko in a tie for 10th with 43 points. 
• Pohjala registered three power play assists against the Yeti to jump into first overall in power play helpers with 18 for the season, and he is part of a four-way tie for most power play points with 19. 

 

Rogue Valley Royals Win Three In A Row To Move To Fourth In Northwest

The Rogue Valley Royals hosted the first-year Bremerton Sockeyes for three games between Nov. 22-24. They won their first by a decisive score, and then defeated the Sockeyes 5-2 and 5-3 on Saturday and Sunday. They improved from 12 to 18 points in the standings and moved from fifth to fourth in the Northwest Division. They are now in an extended break from games until they resume at the USPHL Las Vegas Showcase on Dec. 17. 

• Premier veteran defenseman Konstantin Los (‘04/Moskva, Russia) put up seven points, including five goals, to remain first in goals by a Premier defenseman at 16 and he hit the 30-point mark to rank third in the league in defensemen scoring. 
• Three-year Premier veteran Kaeden Edstrom (‘04/Fairplay, Colo.) is the Royals’ leader in wins with a 5-5-0-0 record including their Nov. 23 win. His 51 games played since 2022-23 is tied with Kai Rivas (Islanders Hockey Club) for third most since that season among active goalies, a category led by the Steele County Blades’ Levi Preugschas’ 62 goals. 

 

Seattle Totems Win Three In A Row, Extend W Streak To 13 Games

The Totems improved to 17-3-0-0 on the season, their only losses coming to the Vernal Oilers so far. The Totems defeated the Bellingham Blazers in a trio of games between Nov. 22 and 27, 8-2, 4-0 and 7-2. They haven’t lost since falling 7-4 to the Oilers on Oct. 6. 

• The story for Seattle all season has been the USPHL Premier’s leading scorer Roman Wolynec (‘05/Langley, B.C.), who now has 74 points in 20 games this season. At 189 points in his career, he is just three points off of breaking into the Top 10 all-time in the league. He is also on a pace to challenge former Fresno Monster Noak Persson for the all-time scoring lead, as he is “only” 51 points away with more than half a season remaining. 
• Aatu Suontakanen (‘05/Helsinki, Finland) launched from 10th place last week to fourth in scoring with a 10-point weekend against the Blazers, moving from 40 to 50 on the season. He also moved into third in assists with 34, a category led by Wolynec’s 51 helpers.  

 

Midwest Division

Fort Wayne Spacemen’s 3-1-0-0 Weekend Extends Division Lead To Four Points

On a weekend that saw all six Midwest Division teams finish either .500 or better, the Spacemen stood out by extending their division lead to four points off their 3-1-0-0 performance. They were one of three teams in the division to finish 3-1-0-0. The Spacemen won 3-1 against the Hershey Cubs to start, then defeated the Minnesota Blue Ox, 4-1, before falling on Nov. 24 to the Metro Jets, 5-1. They bounced back to end the showcase with a decisive shutout win of Somang L-L Hockey. 

• Jordan Nicolucci (‘04/Montreal, Que.) improved to 7-1-1-0 after going 2-1-0-0 at the showcase. He moved from fifth in goals against average to third with his 1.47 mark. His shutout win against Somang was also his third, putting him into a four-way tie for second in that category.
• Alexis Toussaint (‘04/Varennes, Que.) enjoyed an eight-point weekend to improve to a team-leading 32 points in 14 games, and he also improved his career totals to 116 points in 57 games. 

 

Elsewhere In The Midwest Division 

• The Motor City Gamblers enjoyed a 3-1-0-0 record in Mount Clemens, defeating the Kingston Wranglers (5-1), Hershey Cubs (3-2 in Ot) and the Battle Creek Kernels (5-1). Their only loss came on Nov. 24 against the Columbus Mavericks, 7-3. Like all others in the division, their success was surrounded by that of their division-mates, so no team’s standings position changed from a week earlier.
• The Chicago Cougars joined the Gamblers and Spacemen as the other team to go 3-1-0-0 from the Midwest. They started Nov. 21 with a 5-2 win over the Fresh Coast Freeze, and then defeated the Battle Creek Kernels (3-0) and Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones (4-3 in OT) both on Nov. 22. They closed with a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Mavericks on Nov. 23. 
• The Chicago Crush came out of the Detroit showcase with a 2-1-1-0 record. They defeated the Kingston Wranglers in a decisive win on Nov. 21, but then fell 7-0 to the Toledo Cherokee on Nov. 22. They rebounded to defeat the Fresh Coast Freeze by a 3-2 overtime score the same day and closed with a 3-2 OT loss to Somang L-L Hockey on Nov. 23. 
• The Decatur Blaze also picked up five points in Detroit, going 2-1-1-0. They started on Nov. 23 with a 5-2 win over Fresh Coast. They fell twice on Nov. 24, first to the Hershey Cubs (3-2 in OT) and then to the Battle Creek Kernels (3-2). They came back on Nov. 25 to defeat Somang L-L Hockey, 2-1 in a shootout.