Selection Process: The league media office sends top statistical candidates to divisional coaches for review and coaches either approve or challenge the nominations.
Summaries by Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
Forward: Seth Ferguson, Utica Jr. Comets
Ferguson (‘03/Brighton, Mich.) had a huge month in terms of establishing himself as one of the NCDC’s top scoring threats down the stretch. For January, he put up four goals and eight assists for 12 points in nine games for a 1.3 points per game average. He stands with 28 points in 38 games so far this year, an improvement on the 21 points he put up in his first NCDC season of 2022-23. He has been a fantastic two-way player all year, including leading the Jr. Comets forwards in takeaways during January with 45.
Forward: Charlie Zetterqvist, Northern Cyclones
A participant in the NCDC Young Guns Game, this 2006-born Swede was lights out with a huge run of nine goals and five assists for 14 points in 10 games. Two of his nine goals were game-winners and three of the goals came in his NCDC hat trick on Jan. 11 against the Boston Junior Bruins, a team the Cyclones are neck-and-neck with at fourth and fifth place, respectively. Also during January, Zetterqvist led the Cyclones in plus-minus with a +5 and won the most draws on the team with 94 faceoff wins.
Forward: Braxton Powers, Islanders Hockey Club
Powers (‘04/Raleigh, N.C.) helped keep the Islanders at the top of the New England Division through January, and they were at one point in the month just seven points back of the mighty P.A.L. Jr. Islanders in a race for the Mountain Division lead. He put up seven goals and five assists for 12 points in nine January games. For the season, he improved to 20 goals and a personal best of 32 points for this, his second season in the NCDC. A Captain for the Islanders, he led all IHC forwards in ice time in January with 17:55. He also led IHC forwards in blocked shots (11), hits (11) and takeaways (40) during the past month.
Defense: Sean Conlon, Utica Jr. Comets
Conlon (‘03/Averill Park, N.Y.) is back in the NCDC for a third season, only recently joining the Jr. Comets in a trade from the Northern Cyclones on Jan. 2. In his nine games in January, he put up five goals and added seven assists for 12 points from the blue line. He started fresh with a hat trick in his first game on Jan. 5 against the Boston Junior Bruins. He finished that first three-game weekend with a 5-4-9 line and went on to add three more assists over the course of the month. He led the Jr. Comets in blocked shots with 13 in January and was second in takeaways with 72. Conlon has 45 points in 106 career NCDC games.
Defense: Tommy Shore, Utica Jr. Comets
Shore (‘05/Crystal Lake, Ill.) helped the Jr. Comets go 6-3 in January and remain in a strong third place position in the New England Division, with still plenty of games to go to challenge for first or second in the division. Over nine of those games, Shore put up three goals and seven assists for 10 points. He registered points in six of the nine games. During the month, the former Chicago Mission AAA standout led the Jr. Comets in plus-minus at +5. So far this year, he has put up 17 points in 23 games.
Goaltender: Jeffrey Kreidler, Twin City Thunder
Kreidler (‘04/Pittsburgh, Pa.) was just immense throughout the month of January for the Thunder, a team that has tons of pressure to push their way up the New England Division standings. Kreidler played in six games for Twin City and he put up a 4-2-0-0 record, with two of those wins being the best two shutouts of the NCDC 2023-24 season. He stopped all 52 against Connecticut on Jan. 27, and he also stopped 46 shots in a shutout win over South Shore on Jan. 5. For the month, he put up 252 saves on 266 shots for a .947 save percentage. During his 10 games for the Thunder, he is 5-5 with a .933 save percentage.
Top Performers Of The Week (Jan. 24-31)
Forward: Marc LaFrance, Utica Jr Comets – 2GP 1G 3A 4PTS
Defense: Salvatore Cerrato, South Shore Kings – 2GP 1G 2A 3PTS
Goaltender: Jeffrey Kreidler, Twin City Thunder – 123 min., 2.44 GAA, 98 saves on 103 shots, .951 save %, 2-0-0-0, 52-save shutout.
Rookie: Jack MacDonald, Twin City Thunder – 2GP 2G 1A 3PTS
