By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
Another week, and another couple wins for the South Shore Kings. The defending Dineen Cup Champions are getting closer to toppling the record of 19. They are currently tied for the longest streak since the Jersey Hitmen set that 19-game mark back in 2018-19, which was 17 games for the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders of 2023-24. That also marks the second straight year a defending Dineen Cup Champion has won 17 games in a row!
We’ll take a look at the most successful teams between Nov. 14 and Nov. 19, focusing on the teams that earned as many points as games played during the past weekend plus.
South Shore Kings Remain Dominant Force In Dineen Cup Defense
As mentioned above, the Kings are chasing down some history, but they have to keep to the beat. In fact, on Friday, they will face the only team to have defeated them this season, the Thunder Hockey Club. The Thunder beat the Kings on Sept. 19 – Day 1 of the 2024-25 NCDC season – and the Kings have won every game since then. The Kings will also face the first-year Boston Jr. Rangers NCDC team for a third straight game on Wednesday. They recently defeated the Jr. Rangers, 4-2 and 5-3.
- Returning champion Jake Kavanagh (‘05/Montreal, Que.) had a great week and found himself newly high up a few league leaderboards, including assists – tied for third with 15 – as well as power play points and assists – tied for first with nine and second with eight, respectively.
- Lukas Fursten (‘06/Trebic, Slovakia) won both of the games against the Jr. Rangers, improving from fourth to third in goals against average at 1.69, and extended his lead in wins to three, climbing to 12 atop a pack of three goalies with nine victories apiece.
P.A.L. Jr. Islanders Leading Atlantic Division With Points In 13 Straight
The Jr. Islanders are on a roll, winning four in a row and putting up an 11-0-2-0 record over their last 13 games. This recent run, including three wins between Nov. 15-17, has helped them leapfrog both the Mercer Chiefs and Jersey Hitmen into first place in the Atlantic entering Wednesday. They beat the Rockets Hockey Club, 7-2, on Nov. 15; then beat the WBS Knights in back-to-back games on Nov. 16-17, 3-2 in a shootout and 6-1.
- Lukas Vejmelka (‘04/Trebic, Czechia) registered his eighth win of the season to move into fifth league-wide in victories. He is undefeated in regulation over his last eight games (6-0-2-0).
- Aiden Holland (‘05/Topsfield, Mass.) scored his fifth goal on Nov. 16 during the three games to move into first overall in goals by defensemen. His five-point weekend also saw Holland already improve upon his 2023-24 totals.
Idaho Falls Spud Kings Enjoying Four-Game Regulation Unbeaten Streak
The Spud Kings haven’t gone without a point since Friday, Nov. 1, and most recently they picked up a couple more wins in front of their always electric Mountain America Center crowd. They won 4-1 over the Utah Outliers on Nov. 14, and the next night, defeated the Pueblo Bulls, 2-1 in overtime. They are 3-0-1-0 going back to Nov. 8.
- Idaho Falls ranks third in the power play in the NCDC, with a percentage of 23.2, scoring 16 on 69 advantages.
- The Spud Kings remain one of the toughest defensive teams to get past, as they are fourth in the league in shots against per game (30.00) and goals against per game (2.24)
Islanders Hockey Club Stands At 5-0-1-0 Since Oct. 26
The Islanders are on a roll, which is pretty important in a division where the South Shore Kings have won 17 in a row. Whatever you can do to keep them in the same hemisphere. The Islanders recently won 3-1 over the Utica Jr. Comets on Nov. 14 and 4-2 against the Boston Jr. Rangers on Nov. 15, and their winning streak is four-strong currently.
- Braxton Powers (‘04/Raleigh, N.C.) scored two goals and two assists for four points last weekend, and that helped him bypass Cy LeClerc to become the Islanders’ NCDC team’s all-time highest scorer, with 87 points in 116 games. He is also the team’s all-time leader in NCDC games played.
- Powers is also on an active six-game, 11-point scoring streak.
Northern Cyclones Closest Challengers To Kings, On Four-Game Point Streak
The Cyclones have improved to 14-3-1-2 on the season, giving them 31 points, which puts them just three points behind the overall first place Kings in both the overall and division standings. Recently, they defeated the Seacoast Spartans twice, 4-1 and 8-7 in overtime. That puts them on a 3-0-1-0 run going back to Nov. 9. The last team to beat the Cyclones in regulation was South Shore on Nov. 8.
- The Cyclones scored their league-leading eighth shorthanded goal on Nov. 16 against Seacoast. No other team has more than three. Isac Martins (‘04/Lake Barrington, Ill.) registered the most recent shortie, and now he is one of three Cyclones co-leading the league with two shorthanded goals apiece, joining Ian Duffy (‘04/Chester Springs, Pa.) and Noah Tano (‘05/San Mateo, Calif.)
- The Cyclones continue to lead the NCDC in shots on goal per game at 40.75 and they are second in goals per game (4.05), just one-hundredth off of the leading Kings’ 4.06.
Ogden Mustangs Extend Winning Streak To Four Games
A week ago, the Mustangs were leading the Mountain Division by one point, and today, they find themselves with a four-point cushion. The Mustangs defeated the Casper Warbirds by scores of 3-1 and 6-3 in Wyoming last weekend.
- Brody Simko (‘04/Butler, Pa.) became the Ogden Mustangs’ all-time leading NCDC scorer for their two seasons in the league when he scored his 67th point – and then added his 68th – during a four-point showing for the Mustangs against the Casper Warbirds this past weekend. He passed former Mustang Parker Osborn, the previous team scoring record-holder, during this season in which he has 25 points. He co-leads the NCDC in points, and he is also tied for first in goals with 14. Along with Braxton Powers becoming the Islanders’ all-time leading scorer, it was a good week for team scoring records to be broken.
- Ryan Tong (‘04/Burnaby, B.C.) registered his ninth power play assist to take the solo lead in that category league-wide. In power play points, he also has nine and is joined at the top of the leaderboard there by teammate Jiri Duda (‘05/Glen Ellyn, Ill.) and three others also with nine points.
Rock Springs Grizzlies Earn Sweep, Take Points In Four Straight
The Grizzlies are enjoying a fantastic November, going 3-0-1-0 since Halloween met its end. Most recently, the Grizzlies earned wins against the Utah Outliers (5-2) and Pueblo Bulls (4-2) on Nov. 15 and 16, respectively.
- Against the Utah Outliers, the Grizzlies improved to 3-3-0-0 this year, already an improvement in wins after going 2-8-1-0 against Utah last year.
- Edvin Edlund (‘05/Osterslund, Sweden) improved to 11 points this year, pushing him into the Top 10 among NCDC defensemen in scoring.
Connecticut Jr. Rangers Go 2-1-0-0 Over Week
The Jr. Rangers are hoping to put a tough first third of the season behind them and the past week looked like they were on the right track for that. The Jr. Rangers defeated the Jersey Hitmen – at the time the Atlantic Division leaders – on Nov. 15 by a 3-1 score. They fell the next day to the Hitmen, 5-3, but then bounced back on Nov. 17 with a 4-1 defeat of the West Chester Wolves.
- One of the newest Jr. Rangers to join the team, Jakub Kral (‘04/Czechia) was in net for both wins, stopping 79 of 81 shots over the past weekend, including 46 of 47 against the Hitmen in the Nov. 15 victory.
- Leading the Jr. Rangers in scoring this year has been veteran Alexander Ondos (‘04/Pittsburgh, Pa.), who currently has 13 points in 20 games this year. He registered 24 points in 48 games last season.
Worcester Railers Junior Hockey Club Earn Two Straight Wins
The Railers bounced back off of a Nov. 12 overtime loss to the Northern Cyclones to defeat the Thunder Hockey Club, 3-1, on Nov. 16, which avenged a 4-1 loss to the Thunder in their first-ever meeting on Oct. 23. The Railers also defeated the Boston Dogs by a 4-1 score in the Dogs’ first-ever NCDC home game on Nov. 19 at the Canton (Mass.) Sportsplex. The Dogs had earlier fallen in their first-ever NCDC game on Nov. 15 to the Thunder Hockey Club, also by a 4-1 score.
- Leading the Railers offensively this year has been Colby Dobek (‘05/Durkin, N.Y.), who has put up 13 points in 17 total NCDC games.
- On the goaltending side, Cole Scullion (‘06/Burlington, Ont.) earned the win against the Thunder Hockey Club and has been in net for four of the Railers’ seven total wins, registering a .914 save percentage.
Hitmen, Rockets, Comets Close Week With .500 performances
The Jersey Hitmen split their series with Connecticut, as aforementioned, with a 3-1 loss followed by a 5-3 win. They enter this last pre-Thanksgiving weekend just one point shy of the Atlantic-leading P.A.L. Jr. Islanders.
The Rockets Hockey Club fell on Friday, Nov. 15, to the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders before rebounding to defeat the West Chester Wolves, 4-0, on Nov. 16. The Rockets continue to gain steam and are now within six points of first in the Atlantic with 22.
The Utica Jr. Comets came away with two points in a Massachusetts-New Hampshire trip, falling 3-1 on Nov. 14 to the Islanders Hockey Club and defeating the Seacoast Spartans, 4-3, in a shootout.
