By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com
We are looking closely at each Elite division going into Friday’s season opener for the USPHL Elite, with the series wrapping up on Thursday, Sept. 12.
Order is 2023-24 Regular Season Finish
Carolina Jr. Hurricanes
Season Opener: Sept. 13 vs. Charlotte Rush
The Jr. Canes registered back-to-back seasons of a National Championship (in 2023) and the regular season championship (2024), not to mention making a return trip to the National final. Head Coach Brad Gaylord has definitely installed a powerful culture and winning mindset in Morrisville, N.C. All that is well and good, as long as his Elite players are moving up to higher level junior or college hockey teams when they leave this team.
“Our overall expectation for our Elite team is to come to the rink every day and work hard and execute what is asked of them,” said Gaylord. “We want them all to have fun and enjoy developing their game toward the next level.”
The advancement piece is definitely a success, when you look at the names of last year’s Elite players who will be with the Premier squad this year, including some wearing 2023 championship rings: Carter Radosta, Nathan Rhodes, Gian Khani, Zach Rich, Colby Markham, Chris Cuddy, Andrew Timmeny, Luke Waterson and Ryan Kalina. Mission accomplished.
The Elite will have some veteran leadership to lean on, thanks to goaltender Anthony Trantas, an ’05 who came up within the Jr. Canes Midget program to last year’s Elite. With 22 points in 37 games, and Greg Harter returns as a top 10 scorer for last year’s team. Both are also ’05’s with Jr. Canes Midget program histories. Keoni Bolte, Lucas Tremlett and Ilya Gunko round out the veteran presence for Carolina.
Gaylord is also excited to welcome the new Jr. Canes for 2024-25: Jack Ray, Andrew Pi, Chris Zwirbilia, Liam Geyer, Cam Stevens, Cooper Germann, Russell Lapham, Shane Oxenford, Owen Nasholds, Abezu Delvecchia, Morgan Kamenski, Moussa Dessouky, Brady Piscitelli, Cooper Thomas and Patrick Stevens.
Potomac Patriots
Season Opener: Sept. 14 at Hampton Roads Whalers
The Patriots just keep getting better and better at both the Premier and Elite levels. In fact, with 35 wins last year, they had their best season at the Elite (or equivalent) level since their founding in 2010. Alex Grose returns as a Co-Head Coach with newcomer Brian Verbeek this year, to bring a generally younger team towards a potential future with the Premier Patriots.
However, the Elite Patriots might never have seen a bigger victory than when ’07 All-Star defenseman Kirill Golubev was drafted eighth overall in the NCDC Entry Draft by the Pueblo Bulls. Additionally, the Elite Patriots have sent All-Star Ilya Biesiedin as well as Dominykas Jurjevas, Dominik Budka and Nathan Clark to the Premier team. Noah Ribeiro, last year’s leading scorer for the team, has advanced to Tier II hockey to start the season.
“We expect our Elite team to be a hard working team that can get the job done on any night. We have a lot of young talent and some veterans to help lead the way,” said Grose.
Among the returning players are ’05 Braylen Cox and ’06 Rieley Duke. The Patriots also bring in Joe Kenneally, a former Columbia Infantry Elite player who also saw Premier time last year.
Brady Kirchner is a locally-born skilled forward the Pats expect will do well. Fellow Caps Academy goalie Ben Castolucci is also coming aboard this year. Joseph Koleaga (’06) and Nikolai Shevchenko (’07) project to be top defensemen for the team.
Charlotte Rush
Season Opener: Sept. 13 at Carolina Jr. Hurricanes
The Charlotte Rush always enjoy the culture they’ve built, where pretty much everyone – both in the organization and outside – expect them to win on the ice. Off the ice, they’re always expected to be (and are) among the USPHL Premier and Elite leaders in advancement to college and higher hockey levels.
“We have very high expectations as a team and organization going into this upcoming season. There is a lot of history of winning within the Charlotte Rush organization and that doesn’t just stop because there is a new coach on the bench,” said first-year Head Coach Justin Fisher. “Everyone is hungry and excited to get the season started next weekend.”
The USPHL Elite Southeast Division All-Star Spencer Barrow is expected to be a top contributor for the Premier team this year, to use one shining example.
“He played the majority of games with Elite this past season, while playing around 13 games with Premier,” said Fisher. “The coaching staff is excited to have him back in the organization this upcoming season and hope to see his continued success.”
The advancement record is always strong, but it can also sometimes leave the Rush to reload each season with lots of new incoming talent. It certainly helps to have a few returning veterans to guide the newcomers.
“We have a lot of strong players returning that we hope take that extra step this upcoming season. Whether it is in a leadership capacity or on-ice productivity, I know a lot of players are looking to build off what they learned this past season,” said Fisher. “Adam Wiley, Darren Freeman, and Asthon Lesher should be great returners and leaders in the locker room for us. All three had significant roles throughout parts of last season and we hope they continue with the success they had, as well as push the newcomers to the standard of Rush Hockey.
“We are very excited to see all of our newcomers this season, especially the players brought up from within our youth organization Carolina Premier Hockey (CPH),” Fisher added. “Jumping from youth to junior hockey is always different for everyone, could take a week or months to get the hang of things but everyone has been eager and ready to learn. This should be a fun and exciting 2024-25 season.”
Hampton Roads Whalers
Season Opener: Sept. 14 vs. Potomac Patriots
The Whalers are moving in the right direction, putting together their best season since 2020-21. It’s a step in the right direction, but there’s still even more they can do – and better.
“We will focus on getting better every day as we know how tough the Southeast Division is,” said Head Coach C.J. Sweigart. “Developing and advancing these players is our primary goal.”
The Whalers moved players on to college, and also plenty are likely to make the step up to the Premier Whalers this year.
“Jacob McCormack, Robbie Rajnys, Gregor McNish and Bryson Ehn are expected to make the jump to Premier and contribute to the team’s success, following in the footsteps of a long list of players before them,” added Sweigart. “We are very proud of our advancement from Elite to Premier. Development is our goal with our Elite program and we are excited to watch the next group of players who have worked hard and bought into our program advance up.”
With so many moving up in the junior ranks or to college, the Whalers will have a mostly new Elite squad for this year. Taryk Filipuzzi returns as Captain for this year, and he’ll have other Whalers joining, as well.
“Zachary Alberico on the back end will provide stability and leadership. Blake Marvici is a skilled player who is a Whaler through and through who can contribute at both levels,” Sweigart said. “We will also look to forwards Dylan Sedlak, Preston Michels, and Landon Cordova to take the next step in their development and play bigger roles along with defenseman Aidan Hamerquist. In goal, we return Janic Kennedy, who formed a terrific 1-2 tandem last season with Jean Berthaudin.”
The Whalers also brought in some players with prior junior experience, such as Keegan McArthur coming from the NA3HL, and also Tyler Riegle, Nick Kremnitser and Raymond Johnson, who has seen time in the Premier. Dalton Greely joins from the L.A. Jr. Kings, and Alex Denton joins from the Utah Jr. Mustangs.
“We believe in what we are doing and we believe in our group of players,” added Sweigart. “Our organization has a proud tradition of advancement and we intend to put in the work and give our players the opportunity to embrace and continue this tradition every day.”
