Forwards
Aidan Besedic, Toledo Cherokee
Besedic (‘04/Belleaire, Fla.) had an extremely productive December, including a four-point and a five-point game – back-to-back. For the month, he put up a 4-8-12 line en route to his current total of 33 points in 27 games. Besedic joined the Cherokee this year after two prior junior seasons in the NA3HL.
A.J. Zaccagni, Metro Jets
Zaccagni (‘06/Detroit, Mich.) is a first-year Jet who has been an astounding addition from the local De La Salle High School Pilots hockey team. In his first season, he has 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points in 26 games. Of those 32 points, he got 12 in December alone. He registered five goals and seven assists in eight games during the month, which was all part of a nine-game, 14-point scoring streak going back to November.
Zachary Wolf, Battle Creek Kernels
A third-year Premier veteran, Wolf (‘05/Plainfield, Ill.) put up an even six goals and six assists for 12 points in eight games during December. That accounted for much of his career best of 26 points so far this year, in 31 games. He has played in exactly 101 career USPHL Premier games to date.
Forward Honorable Mention: Gino Indelicato, Red River Spartans
Defense:
Jay Cormier, Toledo Cherokee
Cormier (‘06/Brownstown, Mich.) has come into the Cherokee and been a fantastic first-year blueliner, including the seven assists he put up in five December Premier games. He now has 18 points in 27 games, after joining from Trenton High School in Michigan.
Jake Taylor, Metro Jets
A repeat selection here, Taylor (‘05/Macomb, Mich.) is in his third season with the Jets organization and the first year with the Jets team that has more than 30 years of history behind it. On the blue line, Taylor posted eight assists in eight games during December, and he has 26 points in 28 games for this season. Going back to 2022-23, he has exactly 75 points in 105 career regular season games.
Defense Honorable Mention: Landon Edwards, Toledo Cherokee
Goaltender
Caleb Kril, Toledo Cherokee
Kril (‘04/Dexter, Mich.) has twice this season strung shutouts together – at one point, he had three straight and in December, he put up back-to-back doughnuts again. He went 2-1-0-0 during the month, stopping 59 of 62 shots for a .952 save percentage. Kril is second in shutouts in the Premier and third in save percentage at .944. He repeats as a Player of the Month.
Goaltender Honorable Mention: Austin Muirhead, Metro Jets
Selection Process: The division’s coaches are presented with a ballot form with statistical leaders (ranked by points per game average for skaters and save percentage for goaltenders) and vote on that form. The league takes the results of that vote and presents the coaches with the finalists, who are able to vote on further changes if desired.
Summaries By Joshua Boyd
