Forwards
Harrison Browning, Northwest Express
Browning (‘05/Minnetonka, Minn.), has been a dominant force on the ice. In his last four regular season games, Browning amassed an impressive 11 points, with six goals and five assists, maintaining an outstanding average of 2.75 points per game. Browning finished the regular season with 75 points in 40 games.
Cayden Sweitzer, Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings
A Hiram College recruit and USPHL All-Stars selection, Sweitzer (‘04/Elgin, Ill.) racked up six goals and seven assists for 13 points in seven February regular season games, giving him a 1.86 points per game. For his career, he finished with 77 points in 83 regular season games, including 62 points this season – more than four times the points of his 2023-23 rookie season.
Cannon Bonifay, Minnesota Squatch
In his two seasons in the USPHL Premier, no one has scored more goals than Bonifay (‘05/Fort Worth, Texas). He left this past regular season with 91 since first joining the Squatch in 2023-24. His 189 points since the start of 2023-24 are second only to 223 from the league’s all-time leading scorer in Seattle’s Roman Wolynec. For the final month of the regular season, Bonifay scored five goals and added 14 assists for 19 points – with that much playmaking, he showed he’s definitely not a one-trick pony. He scored 44 goals in 44 games and finished just above the century mark with 101 points for the season.
Forward Honorable Mention: Preston Lundbohm, Northwest Express
Defense
Jake Knieling, Dells Ducks
Knieling (‘05/Arlington Heights, Ill.) scored three goals and 12 assists for 15 points to close out his second regular season with a career-best 48 points, and he also was part of the USPHL Premier All-Stars Event. Not only was Knieling’s 48 points the best point total by a defenseman in the Ducks’ USPHL Premier history dating back to 2017-18, but it’s also the third best overall season total for a Ducks player.
Tyler Hadfield, Steele County Blades
Like his Dells counterpart, Hadfield (‘04/Benson, Minn.) is also his organization’s No. 1 scorer among defensemen. He registered 66 points in 102 regular season games with the Blades dating back to 2022-23. He finished the last month of his last regular season with three goals and 11 assists for 14 points in nine games.
Defense Honorable Mention: Matthias Mader, Minnesota Squatch
Goaltender:
Rylan Freshwater, Northwest Express
Freshwater (‘05/McDonough, N.D.) played four regular season games during the month of February, going 3-1-0-0 last month including a 19-save shutout to kick off the month. He stopped 107 saves of 116 shots for a .922 save percentage and 2.25 GAA last month. He completed his first USPHL Premier season at 22-6-2-0 with a .926 save percentage.
Honorable Mention: Noah Hacker, Steele County Blades
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
