We’re taking a look at the most successful teams from the USPHL Chicago Showcase, looking at teams that finished with at least a .500 record in the event.
Great Lakes Division
Metro Jets (4-0-0-0)
Over the weekend at the Chicago Showcase, the Metro Jets went 4-0 and did something absolutely staggering – each of those wins was a shutout. The Jets played the Colorado Eagles on Friday, the Minnesota Blue Ox and the Riverkings Hockey Club on Saturday, and the Pueblo Bulls on Sunday. The Jets scored a total of eight goals over the weekend while not letting up a single one and moving their record to 19-4-1.
Top Scorers (by position): Dakota Kott D (0-3-3), Alex Schaumburger F (0-3-3)
Top Goaltenders: Rocco Stolz, 2-0, 39 saves on 39 shots, 1.000 save percentage, 0.00 GAA, 2 shutouts; Freddy Soderberg, 2-0, 30 saves on 30 shots, 1.000 save percentage, 0.00 GAA, 2 shutouts
Toledo Cherokee (3-1-0-0)
Before going to the showcase, the Cherokee were hot and on an 11-game win streak, but the Northern Colorado Eagles made a stop to that on Sunday. Toledo started the weekend off strong, winning their first three games scoring 17 goals and only allowing 7 with their second game being a shutout. They were on a high going into Sunday’s game but fell short to the Eagles, 4-3.
Top Scorers: Jason Crossland – led all Chicago Showcase players with 4-7-11 in four games; Cameron Reel F (6-4-10), Ryan Stanley D (0-6-6).
Top Goaltender: Frank Murphy, 3-1, 103 saves on 112 shots, .920 save percentage, 2.43 GAA, 1 shutout
Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones (3-1-0-0)
A great weekend for Cincinnati as they went 3-1 in the Chicago Showcase. They started their game play on Thursday with a 4-1 win against the Battle Creek Kernels. They split their games on Friday, winning the first 4-1 against the Dells Ducks and losing the second to the Chicago Cougars, 5-1. They finished the weekend off with another win against the Minnesota Mullets 2- 1.
Top Scorers: J.T. Hosack F (4-4-8); Jake Lamm F (4-4-8); Kyle Burke D (2-2-4 in two games)
Top Goaltender: Blake Mitchell, 3-0, 60 saves on 63 shots, .952 save percentage, 1.00 goals against average
Columbus Mavericks (2-2-0-0)
The Mavericks ended up splitting the weekend with two wins and two losses. They had a score differential of 10-7 over the weekend after beating the Chicago Crush 5-1 and the Riverkings 3- 2, while losing to the Chicago Cougars 2-1 and the MJDP team 2-1. The game against the Riverkings was a huge overtime win for Columbus. The Mavericks are currently in third place in the Great Lakes Division just nine points behind the Metro Jets.
Top Scorers: David MacDonald D (2-2-4), Colin Crowley F (2-2-4)
Top Goaltenders: Brenden Cobb, 1-1-1-0, 75 saves on 80 shots, .938 save percentage, 1.66 GAA; Sheydon Kosie, 1-0, 18 saves on 18 shots, 1.000 save percentage, 0.00 GAA
Midwest East Division
Fort Wayne Spacemen (4-0-0-0)
The Spacemen were victorious in all three of their USPHL Chicago Showcase matchups, stretching their winning streak to 14 straight games. Fort Wayne kicked things off with a 3-2 victory against the Pueblo Bulls. FWS won their second game of the day against the Hudson Havoc on Friday evening, getting it 1-0 by way of a shootout. Goaltender Ido Steinberg, ‘03, recorded a 30-save #ShutoutShoutout in the clash of Midwest East and West division leaders. The Spacemen wrapped things up with a 3-2 win against the Minnesota Moose on Sunday. Noah Maine scored the GWG in overtime in that one, putting a bow on what was a very successful weekend for Fort Wayne.
- FWS centerman Noah Maine leads the Midwest East division with 49 (20-29–49) points. Maine’s next point will be the 100th of his two-year USPHL career.
Top scorers: Noah Maine, F (1-2-3), Kyle Remo F (2-1-3), Logan Robins F (2-1-3), Sam Tetreault D (1-1-2)
Top goaltenders: Ido Steinberg, 1-0, 30 saves on 30 shots, 1.000 save percentage, 0.00 GAA, 1 shutout; Bryce Dunnigan, 2-0, 66 saves on 70 shots, .943 save percentage, 1.95 GAA.
Metro Jets Development Program (3-1-0-0)
MJDP went 3-1 at the USPHL Chicago Showcase. They kicked off their visit to Chicagoland with 2-0 victories against the Wisconsin Rapid Riverkings and Steele County Blades on Friday, before beating the Columbus Mavericks 2-1 in overtime on Saturday. Robert Grasso, ‘04, scored the OT winner for the Jets, recording his second point of the game. MJDP fell 3-1 to the Minnesota Blue Ox in their final game of the 2022 calendar year.
Top Scorers: Alek John F (2-1-3), Robert Grasso F (2-1-3), Jack Rivera D (0-1-1)
Top Goaltenders: Taylor White, 1-1, 53 saves on 56 shots, .946 save percentage, 1.50 GAA, 1 shutout; Andrew Parmentier, 1-0, 16 saves on 16 shots, 1.000 save percentage, 0.00 GAA, 1 shutout; Austin Muirehead, 1-0, 35 saves on 36 shots, .972 save percentage, 0.99 GAA.
Chicago Cougars (3-1-0-0)
The USPHL Chicago Showcase hosts put up a 3-1 record at the event. Chicago lost their opening matchup with the Dells Ducks on Thursday. Luckily for Cougar fans, however, the Showcase was all green and white after that.
The Cougars defeated the Columbus Mavericks 2-1 on Friday before finishing the weekend with 5-1 victories over the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones and MHC (the Metro Jets’ showcase-only team). The Cougars posted a record of 4-1-1-0 in December. The Cougars conceded just five goals over four games at the Chicago Showcase.
Top Scorers: T.J. Haas F (2-3-5), Kevin Maisells (2-3-5), Andreas Zorn D (0-2-2), Danny Determann D (0-2-2)
Top Goaltenders: Jack Coleman, 1-1, 50 saves on 52 shots, .962 save percentage, 1.08 GAA; Jonathan Adler, 1-0, 18 saves on 19 shots, .947 save percentage, 1.00 GAA; Sebastian Wigfield, 1-0, 23 saves on 24 shots, .958 save percentage, 1.00 GAA
Other Midwest East highlights
Motor City maintains second place in the standings this week, but went 1-3 at the Chicago Showcase. The Gamblers dropped games to the Minnesota Squatch and Hudson Havoc before defeating the Minnesota Mullets 4-2 on Friday evening. Five players recorded three points to share the scoring lead at the showcase. Larkin Dolan registered the win against the Mullets.
The Chicago Crush scored a big 4-2 win against the Steele County Blades, but fell in their games against the Columbus Mavericks, Minnesota Squatch and Hudson Havoc. Cameron Crause led the team with three points on the weekend, and goaltender Andrew Young was impressive with 29 stops on 31 shots against the Blades.
The Decatur Blaze fell in their four games, but defenseman Brendan Hirliman was impressive with a 1-4-5 line over the four contests. The injury-riddled Battle Creek Kernels struggled in their four games, falling in each and scoring just two goals for the showcase run.
Midwest West Division
Hudson Havoc (3-0-0-1)
The Havoc turned in another awesome weekend performance with a 5-0 win against the Northern Colorado Eagles, 5-1 against the Motor City Gamblers and a 4-2 doubling of the Chicago Crush. The only blemish came on the weekend came in a thriller that went all the way
to a shootout before the Fort Wayne Spacemen pulled out a 1-0 shootout win. Hudson’s Nate Gulsvig and Fort Wayne goaltender Ido Steinberg each received a shutout in the rare instance of the 1-0 shootout result.
The seven point weekend vaulted the Havoc to top spot in the nine-team division with a three-
point edge on the Minnesota Squatch. Havoc saw 16 different skaters collecting at least a point on the weekend. Defense and goaltending has been the strength of the Havoc this season and this weekend was no different as three goaltenders each picked up a win.
Top Scorers: Adam Brzezicki F (3-3-6), Jakob Jakusz D (1-2-3)
Top Goaltenders: Paul Cassin, 1-0-0-0, 21 saves on 21 shots, 1.000 save percentage, 0.00 GAA, 1 shutout; Nate Gulsvig, 0-0-0-1, 15 saves on 15 shots, 1.000 save percentage, 0.00 GAA; Nicholas Pineo, 1-0, 20 saves on 21 shots, .952 save percentage, 1.00 GAA.
Minnesota Moose (3-0-1-0)
The Moose matched the Havoc with three wins and also ran into the Fort Wayne juggernaut as the Spacemen boosted its winning streak to 14 games against the Moose. The Moose started on Friday with a 6-0 shutout against the Battle Creek Kernels and a 5-1 decision against the Decatur Blaze before dropping a 3-2 decision against the Spacemen on Saturday night. The Moose returned Sunday morning and wrapped up a seven-point weekend with a 5-1 win against the Metro Jets’ MHC showcase team. The goaltending foursome stopped 83 of 88 shots.
Top Scorers: John Becker F (6-2-8); Logan Lake D (0-4-4)
Top Goaltenders: Joey Gag, 1-0, 21 saves on 22 shots, .955 save percentage, 1.00 GAA; Finn Wilson, 1-0, 15 saves on 15 shots, 1.000 save percentage, 1.00 GAA, 1 shutout; Timothy Wonnacott, 1-0, 15 saves on 16 shots, .938 save percentage, 1.00 GAA.
Minnesota Squatch (3-1-0-0)
The Squatch stayed with the other frontrunners, collecting wins against the Motor City Gamblers (4-2), Decatur Blaze (8-4) and Chicago Crush (4-0) before the high-flying Toledo Cherokee denied them a perfect weekend with a 6-0 margin. Six players scored at least three points for the weekend.
Top Scorers: Jack Pojar F (3-3-6), Henri Mustonen D (1-3-4) Nolan Peterson D (1-3-4)
Top Goaltenders: Luis Wittorf, 86 saves on 90 shots, .956 save percentage, 1.65 GAA, 1 shutout
Minnesota Blue Ox (2-2-0-0)
The Blue Ox faced a tough schedule out of the gate, absorbing a 7-4 loss and a narrow 1-0 defeat in its first two against Great Lakes division behemoths, Toledo Cherokee and Metro Jets, in order. The team salvaged a .500 weekend though, bouncing back with a big win against the Battle Creek Kernels and a 3-1 edge against MJDP, both from the Midwest East.
Top Scorers: Zach LaMotte F (4-2-6), Griffin Bourassa D (1-3-4)
Top Goaltenders: Elias Johansson, 0-1, 48 saves on 49 shots, .980 save percentage, 1.00 GAA; Justin Garstecki, 1-0, 31 saves on 32 shots, .969 save percentage, 1.00 GAA
Dells Ducks (2-2-0-0)
The Ducks enjoyed their best showcase of the season, starting with a thrilling 1-0 win against the Chicago Cougars Thursday before splitting a pair on Friday with a 4-1 loss against the Cincinnati Cyclones and a 5-1 win against MHC. In the getaway game Saturday, the Ducks fell to the Northern Colorado Eagles 6-0.
The Ducks collected just seven goals, but thanks to a 45-save shutout from Chris Mazurek and Anthony Falzone kicking out 24 of 25, those performances were enough for a pair of wins.
Top Scorers: Bryce Jacobsen F (2-1-3), Austin Holmberg D (1-1-2)
Top Goaltenders: Christopher Mazurek, 1-0, 45 saves on 45 shots, 1.000 save percentage, 0.00 GAA, 1 shutout; Anthony Falzone, 1-0, 24 saves on 25 shots, .960 save percentage, 1.18 GAA
Steele County Blades (2-2-0-0)
The Blades opened play Thursday with a 4-2 win against the Decatur Blaze but endured a 4-2 loss against the Crush and a 2-0 loss to MJDP Friday, before bouncing back with a 3-2 edge against the Motor City Gamblers Saturday.
Top Scorers: Arturas Laurynavichus F (0-5-5), Connor Homan D (0-2-2), Tyler Hadfield D (0-2-2), Trent Daly D (1-1-2)
Top Goaltender: Levi Preugschas, 1-1, 54 saves on 57 shots, .947 save percentage, 1.78 GAA
Other Midwest West Action
Due to weather-related bussing issues, the Minnesota Mullets played in three games at the showcase. They won their opener, 4-1, against Battle Creek, but then fell in their last two close contests, 4-2 to the Motor City Gamblers and 2-1 against the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones. Brett Strick and Jack Erspamer both had 2-1-3 lines, and Alex Falkenhagen showed his veteran leadership in goal with 22 stops on 23 shots for the win against Battle Creek.
The Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings fell in their four showcase contests, starting with a tough outing against Pueblo (5-0), followed by closer losses to MJDP (2-0), Columbus (3-2 in OT) and the Metro Jets (2-0). Goaltender Bora Yildirim had a strong showing with 28 saves on 30 shots in the loss to MJDP.
Mountain Division
Northern Colorado Eagles (2-2-0-0)
In Chicago, the Eagles offense hit a snag in the first two games, falling to the Hudson Havoc, 5-0 and the Metro Jets, 2-0. The Eagles turned it around and got a 6-0 shutout win on Dec. 17. Then, in SUNY Fredonia-bound goaltender Charles-Anthony Barbeau’s final game as an Eagle, the Eagles beat the Toledo Cherokee, 4-3. The Cherokee are the Great Lakes Division leaders, and they rank third in the USPHL Premier in both points (46) and winning percentage (.885). It was only the Cherokee’s third loss of the season and a massive statement win for the Eagles as they continue to prepare for the transition to NCDC West next year.
Top Scorers: Seven players scored two points in four games.
Top Goaltenders: Evan Stringer, 1-0, 20 saves on 20 shots, 1.000 save percentage, 0.00 GAA, 1 shutout; Charles-Anthony Barbeau, 1-1, 80 saves on 85 shots, .941 save percentage, 2.73 GAA
The Pueblo Bulls left the USPHL Chicago Showcase with a 1-3-0-0 record in the Windy City. They started out well enough with a 5-0 win over the Riverkings, before falling 5-3 to the Fort Wayne Spacemen, 4-3 to the Toledo Cherokee and 3-0 to the Metro Jets. Thomas Soucy and Ian Williams both had three points to lead the forwards, and Nolan Long had two assists from the defense. All three Bulls goaltenders played well. Alex Timmons went 1-1, with 53 saves on 57 shots (.930); Lucas Bjork stopped 40 of 43 (.930) in his loss; and Jack Sundhall stopped 37 of 40 (.925) in his defeat.
