By Joshua Boyd / USPHLElite.com
The Florida Eels and Hampton Roads Whalers have started out with the lead in the Elite after Weekend No. 1, both sweeping their opponents to kick off the 2024-25 season. The Jersey Hitmen also won their first Elite game of the year to stand 1-0 heading into the upcoming games which start on Friday. The Carolina Jr. Hurricanes, Charlotte Rush and P.A.L. Jr. Islanders all kicked off their seasons with a 1-1 split weekend. We’ll look a little closer at what all these teams and some of their top players did to begin their new campaigns
Florida Eels Stand At 2-0 Out Of The Gate For Fourth Straight Season
Always a powerhouse in the league, the Florida Eels enjoyed their fourth straight season starting at 2-0. The Eels won 6-2 and 6-4 for the weekend.
- As on the Premier side, they’ve traditionally opened against the Atlanta MadHatters going back to 2021-22. They have not lost a season-opening game since Sept. 19, 2020, against the Tampa Bay Juniors. While they have enjoyed four straight 2-0 starts, they haven’t necessarily swept every one of those weekends. They played three-game opening weekends against Atlanta from 2021 through 2023. Last year, the Eels won the first two games by one goal in each, and then the MadHatters turned it around with a 3-1 win. Overall, the Eels are 10-1-0-0 in these last four opening weekends against Atlanta.
- The MadHatters didn’t make it easy on the Eels. In Game 1 on Saturday, the teams were tied 1-1 after the first 20 minutes. Florida led 3-2 after the first period on Sunday, but Atlanta turned it around for a 4-3 lead late in the second.
- Eels veterans Yiorgios Bikakis and Jackson Carnes are 1-2 in terms of most points in the league early. Bikakis (‘06/Tampa, Fla.) has a 1-3-4 line, while Carnes (‘05/Hamilton, Ont.) is at 2-1-3. Carnes originally started playing with the Eels in the 2021-22 season.
Hampton Roads Whalers Sweep Potomac To Kick Off Season
The Whalers started out the year with a 4-3 shootout victory on Sept. 14, and that was followed on Sunday by a 3-0 shutout victory. The Whalers started with a 2-0 record for the first time since a sweep of Charlotte Sept. 8-9, 2018. They also started the season with a win for the first time since Sept. 19, 2020, a 1-0 win vs. Carolina
- The Whalers had never started their season with a shootout before Saturday. They were up 3-1 after two periods, before the Patriots countered with two more goals to force the extra hockey.
- Taryk Filipuzzi (‘05/Spruce Grove, Alb.) scored his first career shootout goal after starting with the Whalers Elite team in 2022-23. Blake Marvici (‘05/Austin, Texas), a returning veteran from the 2023-24 Whalers, scored his second shootout goal to open the 1v1 session.
- Returning veteran Janic Kennedy (‘04/San Diego, Calif.) earned his first shootout win and is 1-1. After stopping 38 shots in regulation and overtime, Kennedy stopped two of three in the shootout.
Jersey Hitmen Season Starts With Victory
The Hitmen entered the regular season with a single showdown on the weekend against the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders, winning 3-1. The victory was their first in an opening game since Sept. 21, 2019 (2-1 win over the Rockets Hockey Club). One game to start a season is no indicator of anything as the Hitmen made three trips to Nationals in the first five years the tournament was held (2018, 2021 and 2023).
- The win against P.A.L. was a good start to the season series for the Hitmen, after the Jr. Islanders went 5-1-0-0 against the Jersey boys last year.
- It was a great “Welcome to the USPHL” moment for a pair of new 2008’s to the league. Dom Sorrentino (‘08/Wantagh, N.Y.) scored the first goal of the Hitmen’s season after joining from the Westchester Express 16U AAA team of the Tier 1 Hockey Federation. Will Olear (‘08/Mahwah, N.J.), a product of Bergen Catholic High School, scored the GWG midway through the third. Emile Dupuis (‘06/Rimouski, Que.) also scored his first Elite goal in his first game.
- Returning goalie Jonathan Hager (‘05/Rochelle Park, N.J.) stopped 46 of 47 shots, the most ever for a Hitmen Elite goalie on opening day.
Carolina, Charlotte, P.A.L. Begin With Split Weekends
In true North Carolina rivalry fashion, the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes and Charlotte Rush split their opening weekend. The Hurricanes captured the first win of the Elite season on Friday, Sept. 13, with a 4-3 score, followed by Charlotte’s 3-1 win on Saturday. Both teams won on home ice.
Also splitting their first weekend were the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders. As seen above, they fell in their game against the Jersey Hitmen, but they had earlier won their opener against the Rockets Hockey Club by a 4-3 score.
- This weekend marked just the third time that Carolina and Charlotte have faced each other to start the season. Their last season-opening series took place Sept. 11-12, 2021, which also saw a split with Charlotte winning the opener 7-2 and Carolina winning Game 2, 4-2. The two teams also played a single match-up on Sept. 16, 2018, which saw a 2-1 Rush win. That gives Charlotte a close 3-2-0-0 advantage in opening weekends against the Jr. Canes.
- The Jr. Islanders, whose Elite team made its debut in 2022-23, are 3-0 in season-openers, including their first-ever game which was also against the Rockets, a 5-3 win on Sept. 24, 2022.
- Second-year Rush forward Viktor Pettersson (‘05/Sundsvall, Sweden) is tied for the team lead in points after the first weekend thanks to a pair of assists in each game for four points, tied with the Eels’ Yiorgios Bikakis.
