Florida Division
Caleb Rae, Florida Jr. Blades
Rae (‘07/Stouffville, Ont.) closed out his first USPHL season absolutely on fire, posting 66 points in 44 games – this coming from a line of 33-33-66. He scored 12 goals and added 13 assists for 25 points in 11 games in February.
Dylan Hineman, Tampa Bay Juniors
Hineman (‘06/Odessa, Fla.) scored 10 goals and added eight assists for 18 points during February. He is huge contributor to a Juniors team that would go on to earn a Nationals berth for the fifth straight year. For the season, Hineman scored 61 points and for his two-year career, he has 114 points in 73 games. With the Premier Juniors, he played in five games this year, earning two points.
Joshua Mason, Florida Jr. Blades
Mason (‘07/Toronto, Ont.) put in 11 goals and added eight assists for 19 points in the final regular season month of February. His 53 points this year were more than double his first two seasons’ point totals combined. He also played in 12 Premier games this year and he has 29 games worth of experience at that level.
Honorable Mention: Ethan Palso, Tampa Bay Juniors
Defense:
Carter Trussler, Tampa Bay Juniors
A three-year veteran of the Juniors, Trussler (‘06/Land O Lakes, Fla.) scored a goal and 10 assists for 11 points to close out the regular season. His 46 points this year equaled exactly his first two seasons’ points totals combined. He has 92 points over the course of 123 games.
Ty Elzinga, Florida Eels
In seven games over February, Elzinga (‘07/Cape Coral, Fla.) registered three goals and added five assists for eight points. In his second year, he put up 27 points in 42 games, a better than three-fold improvement on his first season totals. He also got a call-up for two Premier games this season.
Goaltender
Marcus Benzrihem, Tampa Bay Juniors
Benzrihem (‘05/Odessa, Fla.) went 4-0 during his February games, stopping 83 of 88 shots including shutouts of 27 and 16 saves against the Florida Jr. Blades and Atlanta MadHatters, respectively. He closed his season with a 13-1-1-0 with a .924 save percentage. He has 23 wins and a .915 save percentage in his three-year career of 32 regular season games.
Honorable Mention: Dylan Mize, Tampa Bay Juniors
Selection Process: The division’s coaches are presented with a ballot form with statistical leaders (ranked by points per game average for skaters and save percentage for goaltenders) and vote on that form. The league takes the results of that vote and presents the coaches with the finalists, who are able to vote on further changes if desired.
