By Joshua Boyd / USPHLPremier.com
The USPHL Wisconsin Midwest Showcase is in the books, having wrapped up its four-day run on Oct. 24, and some North Division teams definitely gained some good ground from the event. The Minnesota Mullets and Northwest Express both swept their games at the event and are fittingly 1-2 in the North standings. Elsewhere, the Seattle Totems won three games to extend a winning streak to four as they try to challenge the 10-0 Vernal Oilers in the Northwest Division. The Toledo Cherokee’s recent four-game winning streak has them at the top of the Great Lakes Division in points, while the 7-0 Metro Jets are still unbeaten at any point of a game, joining only the Vernal Oilers in that respect in as many games played. The Chicago Crush are 3-0 out of the gate in the Midwest Division, one win in a streak behind the division-leading Fort Wayne Spacemen. The Henderson Force and Lake Tahoe Lakers both added five points over the last week, and the Lakers remain second in the USPHL Premier points race overall.
We’ll take a closer look below at the teams that earned at least a point per game played between Oct. 18-24.
North Division
Big 10-Point Week Puts Northwest Express In First
Along with the four wins the Express enjoyed at the Wisconsin Showcase, they also went 1-1 against the Minnesota Squatch (3-1 win) and Minnesota Blue Ox (6-3 loss) prior to that event. They ended up playing six games in the space of six days, and it worked out well as they went 5-1 during that stretch. At the Showcase, the Express defeated the Isanti Outlaws (7-4), the Battle Creek Kernels (9-1), the Fresh Coast Freeze (10-2) and the Dells Ducks (5-2).
- This run of 4-0 at the Wisconsin showcase was the first event sweep for the organization, formerly known as the Minnesota Moose, since the same event in the 2020-21 season.
- Connor Corcoran (‘05/Haverhill, Mass.) put up a 1-10-11 run at the showcase and also had a goal against the Minnesota Blue Ox, and that pushed him from outside the top 15 a week ago to second in defenseman points now. He is also second in defenseman assists with 16.
Minnesota Mullets Earn 4-0 Sweep At Showcase To Remain In First
The Minnesota Mullets came out of Hudson, Wis., with four more wins to move from third place into first overall in the North with 19 points. The Mullets started on Oct. 21 with a 5-1 win over the Fresh Coast Freeze, followed the next day by a 7-3 win against Battle Creek. The Mullets returned with two games on Oct. 24, beating the Steele County Blades, 4-2, and the Dells Ducks, 5-2.
- The last time the Mullets swept four games at a showcase was at the 2019-20 USPHL Chicago Showcase.
- Returning forward Cyril Valach (‘04/Moravske Budejovice, Czechia) wasn’t even in the top 15 for points or top five for goals a week ago. Now, he’s No. 1 in goals with 16 after scoring eight at the showcase, and he’s tied for fifth in points with 27.
Minnesota Blue Ox Go 4-1 Over Week, Including 3-1 At Showcase
The Blue Ox picked up a victory against the Northwest Express as a bit of a warm-up for both teams ahead of the USPHL Wisconsin Midwest Showcase, winning 6-3 on Oct. 19. Two days later, it was all showcase as they earned a big 10-3 win against the Hudson Havoc. The Steele County Blades pinned the Blue Ox’s only loss on the team when they fell 4-1 to the team from Owatonna. They got right back to winning ways on Wednesday with a 4-1 victory over Battle Creek and then defeated the Isanti Outlaws, 3-2, on Oct. 24. The Blue Ox’s 4-1-0-0 run over the last week doubled their prior wins total and pushed them above .500 at 8-6-0-0, which puts them at third in points at 16.
- The Blue Ox continue to be led by the 2023-24 USPHL Elite Fans Choice MVP Jace Lombardo (‘04/Staten Island, N.Y.), who holds a 9-8-17 line in 13 games.
- Lombardo’s Elite teammate last year, Joseph Auletti (‘05/Staten Island, N.Y.) has started out 4-0 in net this year, with a .940 save percentage. He doubled his wins total with a recent pair of victories on Oct. 19 and 23. Lombardo and Auletti are excellent examples of USPHL Advancement In Action!
Steele County Blades Earn Eight Points Over Five Games
The Blades certainly needed the eight points they earned, as they improved from five points entering last weekend to 13 points, giving them a tie for sixth in a crowded division where only six points currently separate first from seventh. The Blades scored a big 6-1 win over the Hudson Havoc prior to the start of the showcase, on Oct. 18. Steele County continued what ended up being a four-game winning streak, defeating the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones, 7-4; the Blue Ox, 4-1; and the Fresh Coast Freeze, 6-2. On Oct. 24, the Mullets snapped this streak, defeating Steele County, 4-2.
- The Blades started the scoring in each of their four wins over the past week to improve to 5-0 when scoring the first goal, accounting for a vast majority of their six total wins.
- Nathaniel Bowlby (‘05/Des Moines, Iowa) improved to 4-0 on the season after winning three of the four games in net for the Blades this past week. This included a win in relief against Cincinnati. He holds a 1.46 GAA and a .946 save percentage.
Riverkings Take .500 Record From Trip to New Jersey
The Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings represented the North Division for a second straight year at the USPHL Jersey Hitmen Classic in Wayne, N.J. They faced competition from the Canada, New England and Atlantic Divisions. They started out hot on Oct. 19 with an 11-1 win over the Kingston Wranglers, then fell on Oct. 20 to the Junior Bruins, 3-2. They came back with a win that night, shutting out the Mercer Chiefs, 5-0, before falling on Monday, Oct. 21, to Universel Sherbrooke, 4-2. They moved their record to 6-3-1-0 for 13 points, tied for sixth in the division.
Minnesota Squatch Go 1-1 On Week
The Squatch fell, as aforementioned, to the Northwest Express on Oct. 18, 3-1, but then came back in a big way on Saturday to win 11-0 against the Isanti Outlaws. The Squatch are 7-3-0-0 and tied for fourth in the North Division.
Northwest Division
Seattle Totems Go 3-0, Extend Winning Streak To Four Games
The Totems made the trip south to Medford, Ore., and came back to Washington six points richer. The Totems defeated the Rogue Valley Royals, 5-1, 8-1 and 3-0 between Oct. 18-20. Along with an earlier win over Bremerton, that gave the Totems’ their second four-game winning streak of the season. Their only losses have come at the hands of the Northwest-leading Vernal Oilers (10-0).
- The USPHL Premier’s leading scorer, Roman Wolynec (‘05/Langley, B.C.) entered last Friday with an eight-point lead in the scoring race. He’s extended that since then to 13 points after a nine-point run in Oregon. Wolynec also broke the 100-point mark for his two-year run with the Totems on Oct. 19. He holds a 39-point lead over the next highest scorer in the Totems’ USPHL Premier all-time leaderboard.
- Arvid Wigforss (‘04/Sweden) registered his second shutout of the season to enter a five-way tie for the lead in that category. His 0.67 goals against average is tied for the league lead among goaltenders with multiple appearances.
Bellingham Blazers Take Sweep To Reach .500
The Blazers played in their first two games ever against new Northwest Division-mates the Bremerton Sockeyes, located a couple hours south down Puget Sound. The Blazers won both games by a 3-1 score. This gave the Blazers a 5-5-0-0 record to tie with the first-year Iron County Yeti at third place in the division.
- Owen Cross (‘05/Bellingham, Wash.) remains the Blazers’ leading scorer with 16 points in eight games.
- Creedon Dyck (St. Albert, Alb.), who got the Friday 5-1 win, stands as the team’s leading goaltender with a 3-1-0-0 record and enjoying a three-game winning streak.
Vernal Oilers Play Single Game, Extend Win Streak To 10
The Vernal Oilers have the best winning streak in the league at 10 games and the league’s best offense at 8.5 goals per game this year. They got their 10th win on Oct. 19, winning 13-1 against the Colorado Fighting Elk. They will play a single game for the third straight weekend when they face the Iron County Yeti on Saturday.
Great Lakes Division
Toledo Cherokee Add Three More Wins To Four-Game Winning Streak
The Cherokee have claimed first overall in the division points race after unseating the prior leaders the Red River Spartans. The Cherokee won all three of their games against Red River in Clarksville, Tenn., last weekend. Toledo won 7-2, 12-2 and 4-3 between
Oct. 18-20. They had earlier defeated Cincinnati on Oct. 11 to give them a 4-0 record through October so far.
- The Spartans scored the first goal on Oct. 20, and although the Cherokee came back to win, it was the first of their eight wins where they didn’t score the first goal. They are 7-0 when striking first.
- Veteran Austin Nowak (‘04/Sylvania, Ohio) registered two wins in the three games to improve to a team-leading 4-1-0-0 record with a .951 save percentage. Leading offensively is Gerdas Paulauskas, who passed the 150-point career mark on Oct. 19, and leads the Cherokee with 18 points in nine games.
Columbus Mavericks, Metro Jets Each Earn Single Win To Extend Streaks
The Mavericks enter this weekend on a three-game winning streak after they defeated Cincinnati in their only game of the past week, 7-4. Columbus is tied for third in the division with 14 points off a 7-4-0-0 record.
The Metro Jets have their 14 points off of seven straight wins out of the gate, and with no signs of stopping. They defeated the Fresh Coast Freeze, 13-0. They hold the league’s best defense (0.86 GAA) and second best offense (7.71 goals per game).
Pacific Division
Henderson Force Goes 2-0-0-1 For Big Five-Point Gain
The Force extended their point streak to five games (4-0-0-1) when they earned two wins and took a point from a shootout loss this past weekend, all against the first-year Ventura Vikings. The Force won the first game on Oct. 18, 6-1, followed by a 6-5 Ventura shootout win the next day. On Sunday, the Force closed the series with a 5-3 win. They moved to 5-4-0-1 for the season through their first 10 games, placing them fifth in the division points race.
- Henderson native Shane Dean (‘04) moved into the team lead in scoring with a 3-5-8 series against Ventura, giving him 13 points in 10 games this season.
- The Force are 4-0 when scoring the first goal, which they did in both wins against Ventura. Both first goals came from Jared Padilla (‘05/Riverside, Calif.)
Ontario Jr Reign Go 2-1-0-0 To Move Into Second Place
The Jr. Reign put together four points over three games, enough to catapult them past the Bakersfield Roughnecks and into second place in the Pacific Division. The Jr. Reign are now 8-3-0-0 overall for the season. They fell on Oct. 18 to San Diego (3-2), and then defeated Lake Tahoe twice – 4-3 in OT on Oct. 19 and 3-1 on Oct. 22.
- When Luke Cannon (‘05/Edmonton, Alb.) assisted on Denver Craig’s third period goal on Oct. 22 to break a 1-0 Lake Tahoe Lakers lead, he became just the second player in the Premier this year to earn three shorthanded assists, joining Utica’s Cameron Gardiner for that honor.
- Goaltender Domenik McInenly (‘07/Red Deer, Alb.) bumped from fourth to third over the past week in save percentage, with a .965 mark overall.
San Diego Sabers Use 2-1-0-0 Week To Tie For Third
The Sabers have climbed above .500 at the 13-game mark after taking a 3-2 win against the Jr. Reign on Oct. 18, and that was followed by a Sunday-Wednesday split with the Lake Tahoe Lakers, as they won 4-2 before losing 6-2.
- Liam Krupcyznski (‘04/San Marcos, Calif.) used a 1-3-4 run in the three games to break into the top five of scoring overall in the league with an 8-19-27 line in 13 games.
- Viktor Pasztor (‘06/Budapest, Hungary) was in on all three games and came out 2-1. In his two wins, he stopped 103 of 107 shots.
Lake Tahoe Lakers Go 2-2-1-0 In Busy Week To Remain Second
The Lakers continued their six-game Southern California swing, which will end on Friday night against Long Beach. The results have been a bit mixed, as they’ve come up with five points in the five games. They defeated the Bombers, 6-5, on Oct. 18, followed by a 4-3 loss in overtime on Oct. 19 to the Ontario Jr. Reign. The next day saw them fall 4-2 to the San Diego Sabers. After a day off on Monday, they went back to action on Tuesday and fell 3-1 to Ontario. They got some revenge against San Diego with a 6-2 victory on Oct. 23. As mixed as the trip has been, they’re still nine points ahead of anyone else in the division with a 12-4-1-0 record.
Long Beach Bombers Eke Out Point In Sole Game Of Week
The Bombers will take every point they can get, and they did just that by pushing the division-leading Lakers to the overtime on Oct. 18, where the Lakers won, 6-5. The Bombers have earned three points in their last two games and five points in their past five contests. They face the Lakers again on Friday night.
Midwest Division
Chicago Crush Win Two More To Remain Undefeated In First Three
The Crush are enjoying a bit of a roll as they are 3-0 out of the gate, which opened for them only as recently as Oct. 12. They are coming into this weekend’s action with the fewest games played in the league, but they’ve made them count. Most recently, they beat the Decatur Blaze, 3-0 and 4-1 on Oct. 19-20.
- The Crush have improved in their first three games each season from 1-2-0-0 in their inaugural 2022-23 season to 2-1-0-0 last year and now to 3-0-0-0.
- With a small sample size out of the gate, the Crush are second overall in team goals against average at 1.33.
Fort Wayne Spacemen Win Twice To Extend Lead In Division
The Spacemen reached the six-game mark on the season with a 5-1-0-0 record and a division-leading 10 points, four more than their closest competition in a division where no one has played more than six games yet. Most recently, the Spacemen won 8-0 on Oct. 18 and then had an even bigger win against the Metro Jets Development Program (13-1) on Oct. 20.
- Jordan Nicolucci’s Oct. 18 game put him into a three way tie in goals against average (0.67) and into second in save percentage (.968). The shutout against Battle Creek also put the 2004-born Montreal, Que., resident into a five-way tie with two shutouts.
- Alexis Toussaint (‘04/Varennes, Que.) scored four power play goals in the two games and is now in a tie for second in that category with five on the season.
Metro Jets Development Program Splits Week
The MJDP went 1-1 in falling to the Spacemen by a decisive score as aforementioned, but they rebounded on Oct. 23 to beat the Motor City Gamblers, 4-2. Similar to their week’s work, they’re also .500 overall at 3-3-0-0 and tied for second in points.
