Week of Sept. 28, 2023
(Games of Sept. 20-26)
Northwest Division
Forward: Tyler Hanson, Rogue Valley Royals
The Royals’ All-Star local product Hanson (‘03/Medford, Ore.), a fourth-year junior player and second-year Royal, made his name known yet again right off the bat. He put up two goals and added seven assists for nine points as the Royals started out with a 1-2 weekend against Casper, winning the middle game. He had three assists in the season-opener, then scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the second game and added two assists there. He capped the weekend with a second straight 1-2-3 performance in Sunday’s loss to the Roughnecks.
Defense: Maddox Caie, Seattle Totems
An ‘05 third-year junior from Surrey, B.C. (just over the border from Washington state), Caie registered assists in each of the Totems’ three games against Bellingham, resulting in a 2-1 weekend. Caie had two assists in Saturday’s 5-1 victory.
Goaltender: Kai Rivas, Bellingham Blazers
Another ‘05 out of Surrey, B.C., Rivas faced 49 shots during regulation and turned away 47 forcing Seattle into a shootout. The Totems won with two goals in the shootout, but Rivas again showed the form and poise that earned him Northwest All-Star honors in 2022-23.
Pacific Division
Forward: Rhys Doyle, Ontario Jr. Reign
The Jr. Reign kicked off their season with a Wednesday, Sept. 20 game against Lake Tahoe, in which Doyle (‘04/Grande Prairie, Alb.) was in on all the Jr. Reign’s offense (1-2-3) in a 4-3 defeat. He added four more points in a decisive win over Long Beach on Saturday, and had one assist in each of the team’s Monday-Tuesday sweep of Lake Tahoe. His seven assists puts him in the top 10 league-wide for that category, and he has a 2-7-9 line overall in just four games so far.
Defense: Nicholas Bonaldi, Las Vegas Thunderbirds
Present for the T-Birds since Day 1 of their USPHL lifetime, the fourth-year Premier defenseman and two-time All-Star is up to his old tricks. He has posted a goal and four assists for five points so far after a three-game sweep of visiting San Diego to kick off the season. The ‘03 Vegas native is four points shy of the 100-point mark for his Premier career.
Goaltender: Kaeden Edstrom, Lake Tahoe Lakers
Another Premier veteran, Edstrom (‘04/Fairplay, Colo.) had an outstanding start to his second season in the league and first with the Lakers. Over two starts, he’s made 85 saves on 88 shots for a .966 save percentage, the best so far for a goaltender with multiple appearances. On Sept. 21, he stopped 46 of 49 Long Beach shots for his first win with Lake Tahoe, and then also shut them out with 39 saves on Saturday. No other Premier goalie has made more saves in a shutout as of yet.
