By Joshua Boyd / USPHL.com
The United States Premier Hockey League’s USPHL Premier and USPHL Elite Conferences are pleased to announce that the league is opening up Fans Choice Awards Voting for individual awards – Most Valuable Player and Goaltender Of The Year – for the 2023-24 season. Following the USPHL Premier and USPHL Elite All-Star awards announced from mid-April through early May, we now pass the selection of these new awards on to all those beyond the league and coaches: to the players, the parents, the fans and all other supporters.
For the USPHL Premier and USPHL Elite, any forward or defensemen who skated in at least 22 games or goaltender who played in at least 14 games during the 2023-24 season are eligible for these awards.
In conjunction with our media partners at The Dan K Show, the league has identified four prime candidates for each award, but the write-in option allows all those voting the freedom to voice their choice for each award!
We will again hold a vote of the top two vote-getters in each category later this week.
USPHL Premier MVP Candidates
Hunter Scanlon, D, Connecticut Jr. Rangers – All-time leading defenseman scorer for the USPHL Premier with 212 points. First USPHL Premier blueliner to cross 200 points in a career and 100 points in a regular season (108). Ranked seventh in all-time USPHL Premier career scoring. Captain for USPHL Premier National Champion Connecticut Jr. Rangers.
Noak Persson, F, Fresno Monsters – Became the USPHL Premier’s all-time leader in points for both a career and for a single season, with the latter marks being 85 goals and 62 assists for 147 points, an improvement by 54 points over his prior season totals. He not only has a league-leading career total of 126 goals and 240 points, but his regular season 3.75 points per game average – over just 64 career games – is also the best ever in the Premier.
Siamion Marshchanok, F, Potomac Patriots – His 112 points tied for fifth all-time in a single USPHL Premier season, and his 73 assists ranked fourth all-time. He won 558 faceoffs for a 63 percent success rate.
Jay Ellingson, F, Minnesota Squatch – Scored 101 points this year, becoming second member of his family to score 100 points in the Premier Conference (brother Daniel scored 103 points last year). Jay’s hat trick goal ended a triple-overtime playoff games against the Hudson Havoc, which won the series and sent the second-year Squatch to their first USPHL Nationals.
USPHL Premier Goaltender Of The Year Candidates
Levente Hegedus, Vernal Oilers – Hegedus, a Hungarian native, finished fifth in USPHL Premier save percentage at .935 and was eighth in wins, with a 16-4-0-0 record. He helped the Oilers make a second straight run to the USPHL Nationals in their two USPHL Premier seasons.
Bora Yildirim, Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings – Yildirim led the USPHL Premier with his .950 save percentage, the best all-time for a single Riverkings goaltender season, and seventh all-time in the USPHL Premier. He also went 3-0 in the postseason to help the Riverkings to a Nationals berth for the first time since 2018.
Aiden Winslow, Bold City Battalion – Helped the first-year Bold City Battalion make it to the USPHL Nationals in their inaugural season. He tied for fourth in save percentage with a .935, and also tied for eighth in goaltender wins with a 16-10-0-0 record. His five shutouts this year were also tied for fourth.
Cameron Prodin, Northern Cyclones – Prodin (‘04/Dearborn, Mich.) was able to close his season by finishing in the top 10 in both goals against average at 2.07 and save percentage at .929. In his second season with the Cyclones, Prodin put up a 14-3-3-1 record during the regular season. Prodin was one of 11 members of the 2022-23 Cyclones championship team that returned in 2023-24.
Premier Voting Ballot
USPHL Elite MVP Candidates
Kirill Golubev, Potomac Patriots – The 2007 Russian-born blueliner led all USPHL Elite defensemen in scoring this year with 56 points in 34 games. He was the Elite’s only representative at the NCDC Young Guns prospects game at Boston University on Jan. 15, and started the scoring in that highly-scouted event.
Jace Lombardo, Rockets Hockey Club – Lombardo currently holds the single season points record with 113 after this year, after putting up 44 goals and a league single season record of 69 assists. Lombardo was a second-year Rocket along with teammate and fellow MVP candidate John Crowdell, and is ranked fifth all-time with 147 points.
John Crowdell, Rockets Hockey Club – In February, Crowdell became the USPHL Elite’s All-Time scoring leader with 191 points over his 87 games in two years. His 86 career goals and 105 career assists are also both No. 1 all-time in those categories, and his 108 points this season was second to teammate and fellow MVP candidate Jace Lombardo for single season scoring in Elite history.
Noah Malcolm, Northern Cyclones – Malcolm improved from 39 points last year to 69 points as a veteran Cyclones forward. He helped lead the Cyclones to the 2024 USPHL Elite National Championship, when he added 11 points in seven games. He was one of 12 second-year Elite Cyclones who lifted the trophy at the end of the year.
USPHL Elite Goaltender Of The Year Candidates
Nick Cowles, Northern Cyclones – Cowles was an essential piece to the Cyclones’ championship puzzle. He registered a save percentage of .931 while going 13-1-0-0 in the regular season. In his three postseason appearances, he went 3-0 with a .961 save percentage and just a 0.74 save percentage.
Jean Berthaudin, Hampton Roads Whalers – Berthaudin set a single season and career record for shutouts in 2023-24, getting eight doughnuts during the year – he is tied on the career side with former Whaler Ty Morton. He went 14-7-1-1 for the Whalers, his .948 save percentage ranked second in the league, and his 1.74 GAA was good for sixth.
Ryan Kalina, Carolina Jr. Hurricanes – Kalina is an ‘05 homegrown product from Raleigh, N.C., who made his USPHL debut this year and was huge for his team. He finished in a tie for the league’s lowest goals against average at 1.48 and finished sixth in save percentage at .934. He also finished with a 13-2-0-0 record and five shutouts for the season.
Shane McKone, Springfield Pics – McKone came in fourth overall in save percentage this season, with a .939, which now stands as the Pics’ single best mark for a single season as well as for a career mark. In the playoffs, McKone gave up only three goals on 139 shots against the Islanders Hockey Club, giving him a .976 save percentage. That was the USPHL Elite’s second best save percentage not only in the postseason this year, but also in Elite playoff history.
