All games from September and October
Forward: Trevor Touchton, Motor City Gamblers
Touchton (‘04/Utica, Mich.) jumped out on fire in this, his second USPHL season and first with the Gamblers in their inaugural season as an Elite team. He has played in eight games out of the Gamblers Elite’s 11 so far, as he also saw a three-game call-up with their Premier team, in which he posted one assist. In the Elite, he’s been lights-out with nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points for 2.63 points per game.
Forward: Dylan Statham, Motor City Gamblers
Statham (‘03/Livonia, Mich.) is in his second year with the Gamblers program, and has been hand-in-hand with Touchton in putting a hurt on several of their Elite opponents early on. He put up nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in nine games, good for a 2.11 points per game average. Like Touchton, he’s also gone up to the Premier team, where he scored two goals in two games.
Forward: Blake Botterill, Metro Jets
The 2005-born native of Clarkston, Mich., has split his time between the Jets Elite and the Premier’s MJDP squad. During his time with the Elite team so far, he has scored 10 goals and 14 points – in just four games, an average of 3.5 points per game. He has an assist in his three MJDP games, as well.
Defense: Jack Squire, Motor City Gamblers
Squire (‘06/Livonia, Mich.) has been part of the Gamblers’ league-leading 6.67 goals per game offensive attack, putting up three goals and 13 assists for 16 points in eight games, an exact two points per game average. He has also helped them to remain in the top 10 defensively with a 2.44 team GAA.
Defense: Easton Plater, Motor City Gamblers
Plater (‘05/Fort Gratiot, Mich.) has been another strong find for the Gamblers who has been able to help both their Premier and Elite teams. In his six games with the Elite team, he has put up three goals and seven assists for 10 points in six games, an average of 1.67 points per game. With the Premier team, he has assisted on three goals.
Goaltender: Brendan Kusbel, Fort Wayne Spacemen
The division-leading Spacemen have been driven in part from the net, thanks to the ‘05 from Mount Pleasant, Mich., a former Meijer AAA goaltender. Kusbel has faced an average of 41.25 shots per game and turned away 94.5 percent of those. His best performance was stopping 48 of 50 in an OT win over Metro on Oct. 14. He also stopped 43 of 45 against Chicago to stand at 4-0 heading into November. His .945 save percentage is good for seventh in the league.
Method of selection: The USPHL Media Team shares a first set of nominees from among statistical leaders with division coaches and accepts alternate nominations from coaches, where applicable. From these, the USPHL Media Team selects the final “starting lineup.”
Top Performers of the Week (Oct. 24-31)
Forward: Cole Darlas, Chicago Crush – Darlas put up a hat trick – including the game-winner and insurance goal – in a win against Decatur on Oct. 28.
Defense: Tyler Rentner, Chicago Crush – He picked up assists on three of the goals in the Crush’s 8-1 win over Decatur and helped limit them to 24 shots on goal.
Goal: Ian Walny, Chicago Crush – Walny was in net for the victory against Decatur and turned away 23 of 24 shots.
