Congratulations to our North Division All-Stars, who were selected from votes made by the coaches.
Forwards
Josh Bruno, Northern Cyclones
Bruno (‘04/Los Angeles, Calif.) was a powerful force for the Cyclones all year, as they reached the National semifinals for the second straight season – after also reaching the final in 2022. Moving up from the Northern Cyclones Academy 18U team one year prior, Bruno put up 29 goals and 39 assists for a North Division-leading 68 points in 42 games for the Cyclones. The Northern squad came across the regular season finish line at second overall with 77 points.
Makar Korotchenko, Northern Cyclones
Korotchenko (‘04/Nijmegen, Netherlands) came into the Cyclones fold with one prior year of junior experience in the Toronto-based GMHL. That certainly helped provide some leadership for the young ‘Clones team, as he churned out 25 goals and 26 assists for 51 points in just 35 games played, good for a 1.46 points per game average, second only to his teammate Josh Bruno.
Matthew Domanchuk, Islanders Hockey Club
Domanchuk (‘04/Oklahoma City, Okla.) might have surprised some, as a first-year junior player coming out of the non-traditional market of his hometown Oklahoma City, but the always spot-on coaching and scouting staff of the Islanders Hockey Club knew what they were getting. And he fully paid up on those expectations, putting up 21 goals and 29 assists for 50 points in 41 games. He averaged 1.22 points per game along the way. Domanchuk impressed so many coaches that he earned votes from beyond his own team.
Logan Cavalcanti, Islanders Hockey Club
Another player earning votes beyond the IHC fold, Cavalcanti (‘04/Dunedin, Fla.) posted 22 goals and 26 assists for 48 points in 39 games, an average of 1.23 points per game. He was another diamond find, coming out of Palm Harbor University High School in his home state. Along with his efforts at the Elite level, Cavalcanti earned a three-game call-up to the Premier Conference.
Quirino DoCanto, Bridgewater Bandits
The Bandits knew exactly what they were getting this year in the veteran DoCanto (‘02/Wareham, Mass.). A third-year USPHL veteran who came out of the nearby Wareham/Carver High School in 2020, DoCanto increased his Elite points production almost three-fold. He moved from 23 points last year to 61 points here in 2022-23, placing him ninth in league scoring and second only to the Cyclones’ Josh Bruno in the North Division.
Daniil Nikiforov, Boston Junior Bruins
Nikiforov (‘05/Moskva, Russia) was a huge pickup for the Junior Bruins, a team that struggled especially earlier in the season but got a jump from the addition of Nikiforov and other imports. His first North American season yielded great dividends, namely 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points in 28 games for an average of 1.14 points per game.
Defense
Brady Bomal, Northern Cyclones
Bomal (‘03/Westford, Mass.) was a great presence coming in as a second-year Elite blueliner for Head Coach Tim Plummer’s young team, and one that helped the team make another deep drive into the Nationals. He improved his points total from eight points to a line of 7-27-34 to finish fifth among all Elite defensemen.
Josh Page, Northern Cyclones
Page (‘03/Wake Forest, N.C.) earned votes from outside of his own organization, thanks to his veteran leadership that was right up there with that of his teammate Bomal. He also saw an exponential improvement in his points output, moving from 14 last year to 31 points this season and also finishing in the top 10 overall (tied for sixth).
Connor Horn, Islanders Hockey Club
Horn (‘04/Danvers, Mass.) has been working and developing in the IHC program for some years and has now become an indispensable blueliner for the Elite team of 2022-23. He skated in 40 games, producing five goals and 23 assists for 28 points and earned himself the All-Star votes needed to cement the evidence for him to be one of the Elite’s best on the blue line.
Ben Wosko, Springfield Pics
Talk about a dark horse pick, Wosko was nominated and voted on by coaches outside of his own organization. The ‘05 from Suffield, Conn., was a textbook two-way defenseman who didn’t put together the game-by-game highlights that might have earned him weekly or monthly honors during the season, but rather a steady, in-your-face game that saw him register 17 points in 32 games. A local area product, he was recently with the Suffield-Granby-Windsor Locks high school team while also playing for the Pics’ USPHL 15U squad in 2020-21.
Goaltenders
Maximilian Pierce, Northern Cyclones
The ‘Clones’ legacy of constantly churning out top goaltenders in this league continues. Pierce’s season was historic as his 18 wins is tied for second all-time in a single Elite season, knotted with fellow former Cyclones goalie Dylan Sheets (2019-20). He also finished with the league’s best save percentage this year at .937 and third best goals against average this season at 1.92.
Chase Ebeyer, Springfield Pics
It wasn’t often sunshine and roses for the Pics this season, but Ebeyer gave them fantastic chances to win all season and backstopped many of the team’s best victories in and out of their division. He received votes from outside of the Pics organization, showing just how much respect he earned throughout the season. The ‘04 from Scottsdale, Ariz., posted a .915 save percentage. One of his best showings was Jan. 20, when he stopped 54 of 60 shots in 65 minutes, and then stopped all five Islanders Hockey Club shootout attempts for a big upset victory. He also ended the season with a 47-save effort against the Northern Cyclones and a victory against the New York Aviators, stopping 29 of 31.
