(Summaries by Joshua Boyd)
Forwards
Jayden Price, Atlanta MadHatters
A local ‘04 product from Woodstock, Ga., Price has more than picked up where he left off with a 39-point All-Star season in 2021-22. Early on, Price put up four goals and 11 assists for 15 points, an average of 1.67, which puts him in the top 10 for points per game average in the USPHL Elite.
A member of the MadHatters for the bulk of his career, going back to youth, he missed three Elite games for a very good reason – he was called up to the Premier, where he registered an assist in three games at Palm Beach.
Cooper Lundberg, Atlanta MadHatters
Price’s regular linemate, Lundberg (‘05) came to the MadHatters from the Nashville Jr. Predators Midget organization and the two have clicked in extremely productive ways for the 5-4-2-1 MadHatters.
Lundberg has posted 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points in 12 games, ranking 10th in the league in points per game average at 1.58. That was also good for the second best production rate in the Florida Division behind only the veteran Price.
Jacob Godbout, Florida Eels
Talk about climate change – not many folks for the Eels have changed the climate in which they play moreso than Godbout, who comes from Amos, Que., located in way northwestern Quebec and closer to the subarctic James Bay than to metropolitan Montreal. So, yeah, Fort Myers, Florida is a big change, but one thing that hasn’t changed is Godbout’s penchant for production – he posted eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in just 11 games (1.45 points per game).
This is right in line with – and even better than – his production for the Amos Forestiers AAA program, from which the Eels signed Godbout. He wasted no time in jumping right into becoming an Elite leader, putting up a 7-6-13 scoring streak in his first seven junior games.
Defensemen
Carter Trussler, Tampa Bay Juniors
The Juniors exited October just one point out of first place in the Florida Division (and they won their first November game to pull into first). So much of their success has to do with a strong defense and so much of that has to do with their go-to guy Trussler (‘06/Land O’ Lakes, Fla.), who is the current ice time leader for the Juniors, averaging 20:28 – a full 1:30 more than his closest teammate. He is also the leader in takeaways with 55 and has posted a +7 in addition to his seven points in 14 games. And he’s still found time to also play for his hometown Mitchell High School.
Jachym Cermak, Florida Eels
A truly versatile player, Cermak has played some forward shifts but mostly defense for the Eels this season. He leads the team in ice time (20:28 per game) and has formed a fantastic top D pairing partnership with Maxim Schanck, while continuing to provide great offense. He has five goals and three assists for eight points in 11 games. He exited October on a still-active streak of four goals and one assist in his last four games.
Additionally, Cermak leads the Eels in plus-minus at +13 and is also the team leader in shorthanded time on ice.
Goaltender
Daniel Van Brunt, Columbia Infantry
Coming out of the prestigious Long Island Gulls organization, the ‘05 out of Smithtown, N.Y., has done fantastic with the start of his junior career. Out of the Infantry’s four wins this year, Van Brunt has been in net for three of them and has posted a 3-1-1-0 record in six appearances, along with a .924 save percentage.
His best performance actually set the league high of 67 saves when he stopped 67 of 69 in a win against the Tampa Bay Juniors.
Note: October Players Of The Month Includes Statistics From September.
