Please note there will be an additional Midwest Players Of The Week issued Saturday, Dec. 23, for those Midwest Region teams that played at the USPHL Las Vegas Showcase.
Week of Dec. 21, 2023
Games of Dec. 13-17, 2023
Great Lakes Division
Forward: Ugo Lollier, Metro Jets
Lollier (‘03/Rouen, France) blotted out the scoresheets as the Jets took care of business against the Buffalo Stampede just prior to their trip to the USPHL Las Vegas Showcase. He put up six goals and six assists for 12 points as the Jets illustrated their dominance. Lollier has improved from 23 points last year, his first North American season, to 41 points this year.
Defense: Austin Micale, Nashville Spartans
December has been good to Micale, as he has scored 19 points in six games this month, including the most recent output of 2-4-6 in last weekend’s series against Columbus. The ‘03 from Hamilton, N.J., has produced 47 points in 27 games this season.
Goaltender: Daniel Duzek, Nashville Spartans
Duzek (‘06/Skalka nad Vahom, Slovakia) stopped all 17 shots he faced from the Columbus Mavericks for his division’s best performance last week, his fifth overall shutout and third in his last four starts dating to Nov. 11. He is 10-3-1-0 with a 1.86 GAA and .927 save percentage.
Midwest West Division
Forward: Karl Grafelman, Minnesota Blue Ox
Grafelman (‘03/Omaha, Neb.) is having a career season already, having bypassed the 20 points he put up last year. He recently scored four goals and two assists for six points in three games. He assisted on both goals in a 2-0 win over the Minnesota Mullets and also had a hat trick in a wild 7-6 loss to the Dells Ducks. For the season, he now has 32 points in 28 games.
Defense: Jack Kopfstein, Dells Ducks
Kopfstein (‘05/Newport Beach, Calif.) continues to be huge for the Ducks in his third season playing out of Poppy Waterman Arena. He put up a 1-3-4 line when the Ducks beat the Blue Ox and defensively also helped the Ducks defeat the Minnesota Blue Ox. Overall, he had two goals and three assists for five points over five games between Dec. 14 and Dec. 18. He led the team in average ice time (27:13) and blocked six shots as well during that stretch.
Goaltender: Ian Zeumer, Hudson Havoc
What a way to make your debut! Zeumer (‘04/Lauderdale, Minn.) stopped all 42 shots he faced from the Dells Ducks on Dec. 15, helping the Havoc to a 3-0 win. Zeumer is a two-year NA3HL veteran who recently made the jump to the USPHL Premier and the Havoc.
Midwest East Division
Forward: T.J. Haas, Chicago Cougars
It only took one game for the fourth-year Cougar Haas (‘03/Hartland, Wis.) to jump into the team lead for scoring with two goals and two assists for four points against Decatur. He now has 23 points in 21 games and 131 points in 137 career games going back to 2020-21.
Defense: Aidan Canady, Chicago Cougars
Canady (‘03/Schaumburg, Ill.) hit the point-per-game mark for the season just one game past the halfway point, after he put up three assists in their win against Decatur, including going +5 and putting a team-leading six shots on goal to help set up his teammates with rebound opportunities. Canady currently has 23 points in 23 games this season and he has 89 points in 61 career contests.
Goaltender: Zachary Robert, Metro Jets Development Program
Robert is a local area product, an ‘04 from nearby Utica, Mich. In this, his second season with the Jets organization, he won his Premier debut for the season by stopping 25 of 26 shots from the Battle Creek Kernels on Dec. 15. For his two-year Premier career, he has a 4-1-0-0 record with a .925 save percentage.
