Selection Process: Voting took part in two phases. In the first phase, the division’s coaches voted for three of their own players and three players from other teams in the division. Once these results were compiled, the division’s coaches voted on the final team.
Summaries by Joshua Boyd / USPHLPremier.com
Forward
Roman Wolynec, Seattle Totems
The second-year Premier veteran scored above 50 points for a second straight season, as he registered 60 points off a 19-41-60 line for his new team this year, improving upon last year’s already lofty total of 55 points. Wolynec, an ‘05 who led Seattle with a +26 rating this year, also upped his game in a major way in the postseason with 12 points in five games, and that 4-8-12 line set a new high mark for Seattle in their two-year USPHL Premier history.
Trevor Loucks, Seattle Totems
Loucks (‘03/Marysville, Wash.) came into this first season with the Totems after playing all or parts of two prior seasons in the USPHL Premier. This included a run in the 2023 USPHL Nationals with the former New York Aviators. With Seattle, Loucks registered a line of 21 goals and 42 assists (a new record for Seattle in the USPHL), and he also finished with 63 points. For his USPHL Premier career, he came across the line with 109 points in 105 combined regular season and playoff games. His 23 blocked shots were the most for a Seattle forward, and his +21 was second among the Totems forward ranks, just behind Roman Wolynec.
Tyler Hanson, Rogue Valley Royals
A fourth-year junior and third-year USPHL Premier veteran, the Medford, Ore.-born hometown product Hanson (‘03) once again led the Royals in scoring earning his second straight Northwest All-Star nod. For a second straight season, he scored at least 60 points, putting up a 24-37 line for 61, following his 70-point 2022-23 season. Hanson, the all-time Royals leader in scoring 131 points in 80 games, is moving on to the next level at Boise State University (ACHA).
Kristof Molnar, Casper Roughnecks
Molnar, an ‘05 forward from Slovakia, was a huge pickup for the Casper Roughnecks (who have since relocated to Enoch, Utah, and are now the Iron County Yetis). Molnar played in 30 games for Casper, in between stints with two different NCDC teams. He started the year with the NCDC’s Idaho Falls Spud Kings and then joined Casper in November, playing through to the end of the regular season, scoring 47 points in 30 Premier games. He was also playing games with the NCDC’s Rock Springs Grizzlies in February during a call-up. After putting up two points in two Northwest Division playoff games for the Roughnecks, he went back to the NCDC, this time with the Rock Springs Grizzlies. All told, he put up seven points in 18 NCDC games.
Kananga Mangala, Casper Roughnecks
Managala (‘05/Laval, Que.) came to Wyoming from his hometown Laval Hockey Club junior team and was huge for his team by scoring 17 goals and adding 30 assists for 47 points in 40 games. He was one of the Premier’s cleanest players, sitting for only six penalty minutes all year, while drawing 14 opposition penalties. He was also clutch for the Roughnecks, scoring four game-winning goals. In winning 233 faceoffs, his 56 percent success rate also led Casper.
Rodion Gornostaev, Vernal Oilers
Gornostaev (‘05/Kazan, Russia) was the Oilers’ leading forward in scoring with a 19-23-42 line in 41 games. He also was a goal-per-game performer in the postseason, as he scored eight goals and added two assists for 10 points in eight games. That put him into a tie for ninth all-time in a single postseason. His +20 was tops among Oilers forwards and his 22 hits were second among Vernal forwards. He has also recently re-signed to return to “Oil Country” in 2024-25.
Defense
Filip Lezzani, Vernal Oilers
Lezzani (‘04/Puchov, Slovakia) was yet again a standout defenseman not only for his team, but overall in the USPHL Premier. One of five defensemen to lead their team in scoring, Lezzani registered 48 points in 43 games, ranking 10th overall among all USPHL Premier blueliners. For the Oilers, he was the leader in average ice time (22:46), plus-minus (+45) and hits (39). He also has 11 points in 16 combined playoff games after helping the Oilers stand as the only Northwest Division representatives at the USPHL Nationals thus far. With 82 points, he is easily the No. 1 scorer in the two Oilers USPHL seasons so far.
Keanu McClanahan, Vernal Oilers
McClanahan (‘05/Greensboro, N.C.) has had himself a heck of a career so far in the USPHL Premier. He already has 95 games under his belt, with 29 of those being played this year with the Oilers. He scored 22 points during his time with Vernal, whom he joined after four earlier games this season with his former team the Isanti Outlaws. He blocked 42 shots during his time with Vernal, good for second on the team.
Michael Karvelas, Seattle Totems
Karvelas (‘04/Pasadena, Calif.) came in with a great pedigree, having played high-level New England prep school hockey with Loomis Chaffee and also the Yale Jr. Bulldogs. From there, he came to Seattle and put down 33 points in 44 games (followed by seven points in five games). He was the Seattle’s leader in ice time at 24:07, and he also led Seattle with 66 blocked shots. He also put up 155 shots on goal, good for first among the D.
Blaze Ebbinghaus, Rogue Valley Royals
Ebbinghaus (‘04/Breckenridge, Colo.) came back to Rogue Valley for his second season. He doubled his points output from nine points to 18 and became as big a leader for his team as anyone. He skated a gargantuan 29:24 per game, while leading the Royals in hits (42) and blocked shots (62), just the classic definition of a true defenseman.
Goaltender
Levente Hegedus, Vernal Oilers
Hegedus (‘04/Székesfehérvár, Hungary) is another Oiler who has already signed up for another go-round with Vernal for 2024-25. He is coming off a fantastic 16-4-0-0 season, which included a .935 save percentage. He was eighth in wins and fifth in save percentage when the dust settled on the season. He also continues to be called upon by his home team’s national squads. After originally playing in the 18U Worlds in 2021-22, he’s been with Team Hungary’s World Junior Championship team the last two seasons.
Kaeden Edstrom, Rogue Valley Royals
Edstrom (‘04/Fairplay, Colo.) had originally started with the Royals for a full season in 2022-23, and came back this year after originally starting with Lake Tahoe this year. After 10 games in Lake Tahoe, he was brought into Rogue Valley and registered a .931 save percentage. Edstrom also put up two shutouts this year, including a 39-save outing while with Lake Tahoe, and later in the season, he made 34 saves to beat Bellingham.
Camden Widgington, Seattle Totems
Widgington (‘04/Montreal, Que.) is another goaltender who started his season elsewhere – in this case the Utica Jr. Comets. A former goalie with Le Sommet Academy, currently an Affiliate Member of the USPHL Elite Conference, he started out 6-1-0-0 with a .926 save percentage as a Jr. Comet. He was traded in December and made his Seattle debut at the USPHL Las Vegas Showcase. In his third game with Seattle, on Jan. 6, he put up a 36-save shutout win against Casper and rolled from there. In the end, his full season numbers saw him go 14-4-1-0 with a .928 save percentage.
