Selection Process: The league media office sends top statistical candidates to divisional coaches for review and coaches either approve or challenge the nominations.
Summaries by Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com
Forward: Trevor Touchton, Motor City Gamblers
Touchton (‘04/Utica, Mich.) is a local player who has absolutely been on a tear throughout this season, to the point where he’s in the top 10 of the USPHL Elite, tied for ninth with 53 points. During January, he put up eight goals and nine assists for 17 points in eight games (2.1 points per game average). He enjoyed a seven-game point streak, in which he put up all those 17 points. He also got a chance to play up with the Premier Gamblers team for his eighth game at that level.
Forward: Nick Allen, Motor City Gamblers
Allen (‘04/Utica, Mich.) has followed essentially the same path as his former Utica Ford United High School teammate Touchton, starting out in the Metro Jets organization last year and playing this year with the first-year Gamblers Elite squad, and enjoying quite a bit of success. He put up six goals and 10 assists for a 16-point month over eight January games. Allen also has played in three Premier games, including a Jan. 11 game against MJDP alongside Touchton. For his second USPHL season, he has 33 points in 27 games.
Forward: Lukas Kurowski, Chicago Cougars
Kurowski (‘05/Elk Grove Village, Ill.) had a massive January, especially considering where he ended the month. With the Elite Cougars, he posted five goals and seven assists for 12 points in five games, good for a 2.4 points per game average. Kurowski joined the Cougars out of the Northwest Chargers program and he’s been a great find for the first-year Cougars Elite squad, registering 29 points in 26 games. He then moved on to play with the Premier squad on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 with the Premier Cougars, scoring his first Premier goal on Jan. 31.
Defense: Jack Squire, Motor City Gamblers
Squire (‘06/Livonia, Mich.) has proven to be one of the best young blueliners in the Elite and especially the Midwest Division this year, this being his third Player Of The Month honor this season. He put up a goal and 12 assists for 13 points in just seven games last month. Squire has 42 points in 33 games to rank second in Elite defenseman scoring. His two-way play has also encouraged the Premier Gamblers to give him four games up this year, including on Jan. 20.
Defense: Jack Gardner, Chicago Cougars
The ‘06 blueliner Gardner has been enjoying a point streak that started in Chicago and has continued into February. He scored a goal and seven assists for eight points in five games in January and added a goal on Feb. 1 (outside of the scope of this Players Of The Month recognition) to make it a six-game scoring streak. He now has 20 points in 27 games with the Cougars.
Goaltender: Johnny Augusta, Chicago Crush
Augusta (‘04/Medinah, Ill.) came aboard with the first-year Crush Elite team from the Chicago Flames program, as well as the Chicago Bruins in prior seasons. He’s been a terrific addition to the overall Crush program, especially looking at his performance in his three January games. He stopped 96 of 103 shots for a .932 save percentage and a 2-1-0-0 record. This also gave him a 2.33 goals against average. The Crush have in turn been able to climb to second in the Midwest Elite standings as of this writing.
