By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
The first weekend was a great success in the 21-team NCDC, as 13 of the 20 teams playing between Sept. 19-22 earned victories. One of the newest teams, the West Chester Wolves, surfaced as the No. 1 team in points coming off that first weekend, after they went 2-0-1-0. The Jersey Hitmen and Northern Cyclones won games on Sept. 26 to capture the top spots heading into the busy second weekend of the season. We will take a closer look below at the teams that finished with as many points as games played during the first run at the schedule between Sept. 19-26.
West Chester Wolves Enjoy Great Kickoff To NCDC Life
The Wolves started strong with a 4-1 victory against the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders for their very first NCDC game on Friday, Sept. 20. They came away with a point out of a 2-1 overtime loss at the Connecticut Jr. Rangers’ home barn on Saturday, and then they took a 3-2 victory against the Jr. Rangers on Sunday for the two points needed to become the first team on top of the NCDC for this season.
- Their five points ranks second to the former Provo Predators (2023-24), who went 3-0 out of the gate for their NCDC existence last year. The Wolves are tied with the Mercer Chiefs of 2022-23 and the 2023-24 Ogden Mustangs, both of whom went 2-0-1-0.
- Anton Berg (‘04/Malmo, Sweden) scored his first North American goal at 12:42 of the first period against the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders, and that also stood up as the first goal in Wolves’ history.
- Second-year NCDC veteran Griffin Davis (‘05/Nashua, N.H.) earned the first two goaltender wins in Wolves history, combining for 91 saves on 94 shots. He stopped 38 of 39 in the opener and 53 of 55 in Game 2.
- Seiya Ishida (‘04/Tokyo, Japan) is a second-year NCDC player who scored two goals in the first game, and added one more in Game 3 of the season against Connecticut to lead the team in goals and scoring.
Spud Kings Are Comeback Kings In First Game, Shutout Kings In Second
Idaho Falls didn’t seem to be off to a great start for the 2024-25 season, finding themselves down 3-0 deep into the third period against the host Ogden Mustangs on Sept. 20. Then, the magic happened. Will O’Donovan (‘06/Cambridge, Minn.) scored at 14:18 and 15:29 of the third. Subsequent goals by Adam Brown (‘05/Omaha, Neb.) and Andrew Schmidt (‘05/Chicago, Ill.) put the Spud Kings ultimately out in front for the 4-3 win.
The next night, up in Idaho Falls, Charlie Durkin (‘06/Glencoe, Ill.) was the star, making 33 saves en route to a 2-0 shutout win.
- The opening night comeback shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. The Spud Kings tied with the former Boston Junior Bruins for the most wins when trailing after two periods last year with five. Opening day is as good a time as any to get a comeback win. It was Oct. 21, 2023, the first time they came back from trailing after 40 minutes when they beat the Utah Outliers 5-4 in a shootout (after being down 4-2 entering the second).
- Durkin set the mark for earliest Spud Kings shutout in a season, and the most saves in an Idaho Falls shutout victory (Tucker Inabinet had the only blanking for the Spud Kings last year on Feb. 4, making 30 saves). Going into the games of Sept. 27, he also still has the only shutout of the young season.
- O’Donovan’s two goals plus an assist in the comeback puts him at the top of the Spud Kings’ leaderboard with three points entering the second weekend.
Jersey Hitmen Take First Three W’s To Kick Off Season
The Hitmen, who have been down the road many times of winning consecutive games – after all, they own the league record of consecutive wins set at 19 from their 2018-19 season. They’ve often started the season the same way in their first three games, with three straight victories and this year is no exception. The only exceptions so far to that rule were 2021-22 and 2023-24. To kick off this year, the Hitmen beat the Mercer Chiefs, 6-1 and 7-3, and then also beat the Connecticut Jr. Rangers by an 8-2 score on Thursday, Sept. 26.
- The 21 goals scored in three games are the most for Jersey’s opening trio of games in their eight-year history.
- Returning Hitman Aiden Ryan, a third-year NCDC veteran, has posted five goals – scoring at least one in each contest so far – to take the league lead in that category.
- In goal, Nick Bunch has a 2-0 record after stopping 69 of 72 shots for a .958 save percentage, second to the Wolves’ Griffin Davis among goalies with multiple starts so far.
- Former Hitmen goalie Daniel Moor (2023-24) committed to Princeton University on Sept. 16. He will play this season in the USHL with the Waterloo Black Hawks.
Northern Cyclones Roaring Early With 3-0 Record
The Cyclones have shown their dominance out of the gate, sweeping the Utica Jr. Comets in their opening two games, and then adding a 5-1 win over the regional rival Islanders Hockey Club on Sept. 26. Against the Jr. Comets they opened with a 5-2 victory and then won 2-1 in overtime.
- This is new territory for the Cyclones, whose previous best start over three games was 2-1, which they accomplished in 2019-20, 2021-22 and 2022-23.
- Will Welburn (‘04/Rye, N.Y.) became the first Cyclones defenseman to score an OT winner since Charlie Ross did it against the former New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs on Jan. 26, 2023.
- Third-year NCDC veteran Ian Duffy (‘04/Chester Springs, Pa.) is second in league scoring with a 1-5-6 line.
- Returning Cyclone Logan Abric (‘04/Hayward, Wis.) is 2-0 and has a league-leading 1.50 goals against average among netminders with more than one appearance.
Thunder Hockey Club Off To 2-0 Start In New Massachusetts Home
The Thunder Hockey Club have recently relocated their home to the Essex Sports Center, in Middleton, Mass., where they swept their first two games by scores of 4-3, a great showing against the defending Dineen Cup champion South Shore Kings, and then 4-2 against the Islanders Hockey Club.
- The Thunder also went 2-0 in their debut season of 2019-20, and in 2022-23 as part of a three-game winning streak out of the gate.
- The team came back from being down 2-1 in the first period to win their first game, after winning just twice all of last season when trailing after one period.
- Gaber Jovanovic Sorn (‘06/Slovenia) registered a 2-1-3 line to kick off his NCDC career and lead the team.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights Win Pair Of One-Goal Games Vs. Rockets
The Knights kicked off their third season in the NCDC by taking a pair of wins against the Rockets Hockey Club by a goal in each on Sept. 20 and 21, winning 4-3 and 6-5. These results gave the team its first two-win start to a season.
- Stringing together regular seasons, the Knights are on a five-game streak of one-goal games, ending the 2023-24 with three such decisions.
- The Knights continued their run of strong performances against the Rockets, after going 5-1-1-1 against the Bridgewater, N.J., team last year.
- Christian Day (‘04/Barre, Vt.) is off to a fantastic start, putting up two goals and three assists for five points already this season to led the Knights, offensively.
Worcester Railers Junior Hockey Club Earn Historic First Two Wins
The Worcester Railers got the 2024-25 season on track on Thursday, Sept. 19, opening with a 4-1 win against the Boston Jr. Rangers, and he had a 4-2 victory the next day against the same Jr. Rangers to begin their NCDC existence at 2-0.
- Colby Dobek (‘05/Buffalo, N.Y.) scored the first goal of the NCDC season on Sept. 19, at 1:42 of the second. At 4:28 of the second, Ben Jarosz (‘05/Orlando, Fla.) scored the first Railers GWG. Dobek stands as the leading scorer for the Railers.
- The Boston Jr. Rangers’ Tyler Dale (‘04/Waukesha, Wis.) registered his team’s first-ever NCDC goal at 12:31 of the second period.
- Cole Scullion (‘06/Burlington, Ont.) registered the first Railers victory by making 29 saves on 30 shots on Sept. 19.
Casper Warbirds Win Dramatic First NCDC Game In Overtime
The Casper Warbirds are officially in the NCDC statistical history books, having earned their first win (in overtime) in their first-ever game in the conference. It sure was a doozy, as the Warbirds took on the Rock Springs Grizzlies in Casper Ice Arena in front of 476 fans and supporters of the new team. They won 3-2, with a great USPHL Advancement In Action Success Story to boot: former USPHL Elite All-Star Sean Boltin (‘05/Chicago, Ill.), who also produced at the forward ranks in the USPHL Premier, scored the first OT and GWG in Casper Warbirds history, just 16 seconds into the OT.
- This is not the first time a brand new NCDC team has gone to OT in their first game ever. The Ogden Mustangs and former Provo Predators settled their first-ever NCDC game in OT, 2-1 in favor of Ogden on Sept. 22, 2023. The Mercer Chiefs’ first two games in 2022-23 went to OT, their first ever also going to a shootout (3-2 Mercer win). On the same day of Sept. 23, 2022, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went up against the Jersey Hitmen and fell 3-2 in OT.
- Brennan Green (‘05/Trenton, Mich.) scored the first-ever Casper goal at 1:07 of the first period.
- Ryan Henry (‘04/Wayne, N.J.) registered the first win for Casper, stopping 42 of 44 shots.
South Shore Kings Improve To 2-1 With Thursday Win
The South Shore Kings, coming into their Sept. 26 game with a 1-1 record, fought back from being down 2-0 through two periods to earn a 3-1 victory against the visiting Utica Jr. Comets, putting them over .500 for the first time on the young season. They had earlier lost 4-3 to the Thunder Hockey Club on Sept. 19, and defeated the Seacoast Spartans, 5-2, on Sept. 20.
- The Kings are 1-1-0-0 when trailing after two periods already on the season. They went 3-7-1-0 in that situation during their Dineen Cup Championship campaign of 2023-24.
- Brendan Agnew (‘05/Fort Mill, S.C.) scored the first-ever Seacoast Spartans’ NCDC goal at 9:44 of the second period in the Sept. 20 game.
- NCDC veteran Will Rassier (‘04/Princeton, N.J.) came away with a 2-5-7 line from the first three games, which leads all NCDC forwards heading into Friday’s games.
Utah Outliers Take Win In Single-Game Opening Weekend
The Outliers will approach next week’s NCDC Frozen Futures (Oct. 2-4) after a pair of single-game weekends. They opened their season on Sept. 20 with a 5-2 win over the Rock Springs Grizzlies.
- Out of their two NCDC seasons, this is their first win in a season opener. They had fallen to the Pueblo Bulls to open their inaugural campaign in 2023-24.
- Returning Outlier Garrett Joss (‘04/Whitby, Ont.) scored two goals to kick off his season. He improved his already top spot on the Outliers NCDC scoring leaderboard, improving to 63 points for the team.
- Third-year junior veteran Marcus Ouellet (‘04/Toronto, Ont.) put up the first win of the season in net, with 19 saves.
Let the Friday games begin!
