By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
It’s mid-November, it’s classic hockey time pretty much everywhere in the U.S. (though some high school seasons kick off in December). So, the NCDC is well-entrenched in a busy and exciting season. Obviously, the league saw exciting news this week with the addition of the Boston Dogs to the league. They will be joining a circuit that has competitive races in every division. First place in the New England is held by the red-hot South Shore Kings, enjoying their 15-game winning streak, but knowing the Northern Cyclones are just three points behind. Only five points separate the top five teams in the Atlantic Division, and four points separate the top four in the Mountain. Outside of South Shore, no one else in the league has a winning streak of more than three games currently, though the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders haven’t suffered a regulation loss in their last 10 games, and the Utah Outliers only just had their first regulation “L” in their last 10 contests.
We’ll dig into the teams that earned at least as many points as games played between Nov. 4-13.
Rockets Hockey Club Win Three Games In Five Days
The Rockets are on a mission, and certainly on the rise in the Atlantic Division. With three recent wins in a row, they’ve improved to 9-6-2-0 and the season and are 7-2-1-0 over their last 10 games. At fifth place in the Atlantic, they are only five points behind the division-leading Jersey Hitmen. The Rockets defeated the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders, 3-2 in overtime, on Nov. 6. Two days later, they began a 2-0 weekend run against the Connecticut Jr. Rangers, winning 2-1 and then 3-0.
- The Rockets have the lowest penalty minutes per game at 8.41, helping them towards more recent success.
- Jared Rothman (‘06/Chappaqua, N.Y.) rode a five-point run over three games, helping him to push into a tie for first in league scoring with 22 points. Two of his three goals the past week were game-winners, which put him into first overall for that category as well.
Northern Cyclones Earn Five Points From 2-1-1-0 Week
The Cyclones have been busy between two Tuesdays. On Nov. 5, the Cyclones earned a big 7-2 win against the Worcester Railers JHC. On Nov. 8, the team fell 4-3 in regulation to South Shore, then fell on Nov. 9 in OT by the same score. On Nov. 12, however, also by that same 4-3 score, they defeated the Railers once again, and in overtime.
- The Cyclones scored three shorthanded goals in two of these games over the last week, a season high for all NCDC teams – on Nov. 5 and Nov. 9. Noah Tano and Ian Duffy each picked up two shorthanded goals the past week, giving each a share of the tie for the league lead in that category. Tano (‘05/San Mateo, Calif.) joins the Marshchanok twins Siamion and Matsvei with three shorthanded points apiece.
- Paul Dalessio (‘05/Burlington, Mass.) continues to lead the league in goals against average (1.30) and save percentage (.958), while on the offensive front, Michael Markowski (‘04/Spring Lake, N.J.) remains the goals leader at 13.
Defending Champion South Shore Kings Extend Team Record Winning Streak
History continues to be made every time the Kings skate off the ice, and that’s been the case since about early-middle October. The Kings long ago set their team record for a winning streak and now they’re piling the cake with frosting. The Kings went up against the Northern Cyclones on Nov. 8 and 9, winning 4-3 in both games, the second coming in overtime. With the wins, the Kings improved their all-time series record against the Cyclones to 21-14-2-1.
- With a 15-0 winning streak, the Kings have nearly doubled their previous record winning streak of eight games from the inaugural 2017-18 season. The 15 straight wins is also more than their best streaks of the past three seasons combined.
- First-year goaltender Lukas Fursten, the NCDC New England Goaltender of the Month for October, improved since Nov. 4 from fifth to fourth in goals against average, with a 1.54 mark. He remains No. 1 in in NCDC wins with 10, the only goaltender in the league to hit double digits thus far.
Thunder Hockey Club Win Two In A Row, Climb To Tie For Third In New England
The Thunder enjoyed wins against the Boston Jr. Rangers (2-1 on Nov. 5) and Seacoast Spartans (5-3 on Nov. 8) to give them a boost from fourth into a tie for third with the Islanders Hockey Club. Both hold 19 points going into Thursday’s action.
- Prestyn Carter (‘04/Macomb, Mich.) has been a strong addition to the Thunder since being acquired from Idaho Falls. In two games with the Thunder, he’s stopped 65 of 68 shots and improved in the league’s save percentage rankings from fifth on Nov. 4 to currently third at .952.
- Second-year Thunder forward Roman Wainwright (‘05/Detroit, Mich.) put up three points on Nov. 8 against Seacoast, giving himself a career high in goals with eight so far on the season and he currently leads the team, offensively, with 13 points in 15 games.
West Chester Wolves Win Pair, Climb Into Tie For Third In Atlantic
The Wolves are certainly enjoying a strong first year, as they picked up a pair of wins against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights (4-0, on Nov. 8) and the Atlantic Division-leading Jersey Hitmen (2-1 in overtime, Nov. 9). The two wins put them at 22 points so far and in a tie with the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders at third in the division.
- The Wolves have been out-shot 11 times out of their 19 games, but they have won the majority of those occasions, with a league-best seven victories when being out-shot. They have a 7-4-0-0 record in that situation.
- NCDC veteran goaltender Griffin Davis (‘05/Nashua, N.H.) advanced his save percentage rank from third to second by improving by .001, from .953 to .952 over the last nine days. Davis’ 31 games played ranks fifth among active goalies since he joined the league in 2022-23.
Mercer Chiefs Win Two Of Three, Remain At Second In Atlantic
The Chiefs, who started out 4-4, have improved to 12-6 and into second place in the Atlantic Division. Their best run of course was winning every game in October, and winning enough since then to remain near the top in a tight Atlantic pack. The Chiefs defeated the Jersey Hitmen, 3-2, and then fell by the same score on Nov. 8 by P.A.L. They returned for a third straight day on Nov. 9 to beat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights, 4-3.
- The Chiefs won and lost two of their three games after being tied in the first period. No other team has as many as the Chiefs’ six wins when tied after 20 minutes.
- With 29 wins since 2022, Dominick Gatto (‘05/St. Charles, Ill.) is the active leader in that category. Gatto moved to second in minutes played this season with 719 and he remains second in wins with nine this year.
Ogden Mustangs Go 2-1-0-0, Hold One-Point Lead In Mountain Division
The Mustangs are holding on to a slim lead in the Mountain Division going into today’s action. At 11-4-1-0, they hold 23 points, just one more than the Utah Outliers’ 22 – and the Outliers play today and can tie or surpass the Mustangs (not that there’s a ton of division placement drama two weeks before Thanksgiving, but the jostling is still fun to watch). They went to Colorado last week and came away with a 3-2 regulation loss and wins of 7-4 and 5-2. The Mustangs were very close this year to last year, as they put up a 12-2-1-1 record at the 16-game mark a year ago.
- The Mustangs continue to be one of the best teams in the league at holding leads, as their 10 wins (10-1-0-0) when leading after 40 minutes is tied for first with the South Shore Kings (10-0-0-0).
- University of Notre Dame recruit Jackson Walsh (‘05/Northville, Mich.) put up six assists and moved right into first place in NCDC assists.
Utica Jr. Comets Finish 2-1-0-0 For Their Massachusetts Trip
The Utica Jr. Comets leapfrogged one of the teams they just faced in central Massachusetts as they traveled to Worcester to face the Boston Jr. Rangers and Worcester Railers JHC. The Jr. Comets defeated the Railers, 7-2, on Nov. 7, then fell by the same score on Nov. 8. Utica came back to once again beat the Railers by a 6-4 score on Nov. 9. This allowed them to move from sixth to fifth in the New England Division standings since Nov. 4, and they currently hold a 6-8-1-1 record as they head back to Massachusetts Thursday against the Islanders Hockey Club.
- Third-year NCDC defenseman Ricky Volpe (‘04/Commack, N.Y.) scored goals on Nov. 7 and 9, and that was enough to tip the scales to put him into a tie for first place overall for goals by an NCDC defenseman currently at four. All three of Volpe’s goals in November thus far have been on the power play, and thus he has improved to league the lead in that category among defensemen.
- The Jr. Comets’ goaltenders’ Dylan Eliason (‘04/Northville, Mich.) and Michael Valenta (‘05/Sumperk, Czechia) each have three goals, splitting the Jr. Comets’ wins evenly.
Casper Warbirds, Rock Springs Grizzlies Match Three-Point Weekends
The Casper Warbirds split their two-game home-and-home series last weekend with the Rock Springs Grizzlies, with both games going to overtime. The Grizzlies won the first game, 3-2 on Nov. 8, and then the Warbirds won 5-4 in the Saturday night game. For the Warbirds, it was their best two-game weekend since a Sept. 27-28 sweep of Pueblo. The Grizzlies had their best weekend of the season for a two-game set against the same opponent.
- The Warbirds have only gone to overtime against the Grizzlies this year, going 2-1, including in the Warbirds’ NCDC debut on Sept. 21, a 3-2 victory for Casper.
- The Grizzlies, on the other hand, have been to OT a league-high seven times this year, including going either to or beyond the OT period four times in their first seven games of the season. They also have a league-best 10 points from games beyond OT.
- Second-year Grizzly Kaleb Pitman (‘04/Alexandria, Minn.) scored his first game-winning goal of the season with the OT winner on Friday. He is currently on a five-game goal-scoring streak, putting up seven goals in that stretch.
- For the Warbirds, the GWG hero was Ty Bashaw (‘06/Fond du Lac, Wis.). He has scored all four of his goals since Halloween, with two of those being game-winners.
Idaho Falls Spud Kings, P.A.L. Jr. Islanders Also Go 1-0-1
Two other teams that went 1-0-1 included the Idaho Falls Spud Kings and the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders. For the Spud Kings, they fell by a 4-3 score to Utah on Nov. 8, and then defeated the Outliers the next night by a 6-1 score. With the three points, they pulled up to within one point of the Pueblo Bulls, who are in third place.
The Jr. Islanders fell in overtime on Nov. 6 to the Rockets Hockey Club, 3-2, and they came back two days later to defeat the Mercer Chiefs, 3-2. The Jr. Islanders are undefeated in regulation over 10 games (8-0-2-0).
- The Jr. Islanders have also played in three straight one-goal games in November, and they are currently 4-1-2-0 in one-goal games.
- P.A.L. remains offensively led by returning veterans Arthur Mirante (‘04/Garden City, N.Y.) and Ryan Kearney (‘04/Kings Park, N.Y.), both of whom have 15 points. In goal, Ethan Ramonetti (‘06/East Northport, N.Y.) registered the win against Mercer and is 3-0 since joining in mid-October.
- Idaho Falls’ Andrew Schmidt (‘05/Chicago, Ill.) put up a great weekend with a 3-2-5 line, putting him into a tie for fourth in goals with 10, a tie for 10th in points with 18 and also into second in game-winning goals with four.
- Charlie Durkin (‘06/Glencoe, Ill.) continues to be the Spud Kings’ main man in net and improved to 6-4-1-0. His 661 minutes rank him fifth in the NCDC.
Utah Outliers Finish .500 On Week, Remain In Close Hunt For Mountain Division Lead
As mentioned above, the Outliers will hit the ice on Thursday night against the visiting Spud Kings with a chance to leapfrog Ogden ahead of the typically busy Friday-Saturday weekend slate. They recently defeated the Spud Kings 4-3 in overtime and lost 6-1. The regulation loss was their only such “L” in their last 10 games.
