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The Florida Eels are proud  to highlight several  major milestones in some of its key players:

 

TJ Zebley a forward, passes 200 points in the USPHL as a junior player: GP 146 Goals 82 Assists 122 Total Points 204.  Zebley,  a 2000,  is an extremely talented player. He is on the radar for numerous NCAA coaches. A first-class individual as well strong leadership skill. Great character.

 

Gage Dill a 2001 forward with Total Junior games played at 152.  He has 75  Goals  128 Assists  Total Points 205. This young man can score at will.  A natural goal scorer. He is a shifty player great hands and few players in junior hockey have his upside. He makes everything look so easy. Very high hockey IQ. Top NCAA college prospect.

 

Jake Court is 5 points shy of the 200-point mark.  He played  156  junior games. He has  80 goals and  125 assists for 195 total points. Now that is impressive. He started his youth hockey with the Eels mite program and has played with the Eels right straight through juniors.  He “bleeds Eels Green.”  Jake is truly an iron man with the Eels. He has tremendous work ethic to go along with his high skill set. Jake is  tough as nails. Solid character. Top college prospect.

 

Taurin Haddon- Harris a 2001 forward. He is new to the Eels Junior program this season. He has a combined Prep and Junior career  of 84 goals  123 assists   for a total of 207  points.  He is a very gifted forward explosive speed that lends to his knack for scoring. Another high character individual. Very high hockey IQ. Plays with a high compete level. Top College prospect.

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Tristan Roost  2000 forward. Another  newcomer to the Eels this season. Tristan played  in 147 junior games. He has 47 goals 82 assists 129 points. Tristan is another very gifted player. Has ripened this year as an Eels into a solid goal scorer. Very high hockey IQ. Excellent overall skill set. High character individual.

Florida Eels Pre-Game Snapshot: This Wednesday The San Diego Sabers (Premier) Northern Cyclones (Elite)

This Wednesday the Florida Eels Premier and Elite team head into the heart of the Hub City at the Advent Center Ice in Wesley Chapel and square off against two opponents from across the USA. The Premier team takes on a team from the Pacific Division the San Diego Sabers. The Eels have never played any team from California so this ought to be a great experience for the players. While the Elite squad faces off once again against the Northern Cyclones.

The Premier team will be playing in its 3rd game of the Hub City event. They played 1st against the Jersey Hitmen and won 12-3 and in their 2nd game they handedly defeated the CJR 10-1. That is 22 goals for in two games and only allowing 4. The boys have all cylinders firing at this point. They have been playing with a high-octane offense while not losing sight of their defensive responsibilities with a solid 2 GAA in those games it makes these wins more impressive. The Sabers have struggled a bit this season and no doubt they are hungry for a win. This is an organization with solid history. Indeed, last season in the WSHL, in 51 games played, they garnered 31 wins and 18 losses. That is pretty solid. They made the trip out to Florida to compete in the Hub City event with their eye on developing their players and making them better overall. They are hoping this will rekindle their winning ways. You can count on the Eels not to take them lightly. There is nothing more dangerous than playing a team as hungry as the Sabers. The Eels take no team for granted. They take no win for granted. They go out and play their game no matter what the scenario or who the opponent is. The Eels are in a major battle with the Tampa Juniors in the standings, so every point is critical here on out.

The Elite team has their 4th game of the Hub City when they play the Northern Cyclones on Wednesday. They have won all 3 games heretofore in the Hub City. It will be their 2nd game against the Cyclones. The first game the Eels won 5-2 But the Eels know full well the Cyclones are an extremely talented team. They have some very good players. In fact, 8 of the Eels Elite players played against the Cyclone all stars and our boys will tell you they are very talented. The Cyclones are well coached, and you can expect them to come in with a different game plan. The Elite team like the Premier team will not take them for granted nor will they come to the game being complacent. The Eels are battling it out in the standings and these 2 points are very important whether it means climbing ahead or preventing it from slipping to 3rd place. This will make for an extremely competitive game on Wednesday.

The Premier team plays at 1:20 PM

The Elite team plays at noon

Come join us in Tampa or if you cannot make it join us on HockeyTV.

Florida Eels Junior Hockey

United States Premier Hockey League

USPHL Premier

Another exciting day at the Hub City Event. Today six of our Eels Premier players competed in the USPHL All Star Event. In the Premier Division the All Stars were divided into two Divisions. The American and National Divisions. Our Florida boys played in the National Division against players from the North

The following Eels players were selected to play:

T J Zebley, Gage Dill, Alex Caron, Tristan Roost, Cade Swygert and Demeed Podrezov.

In the game Gage Dill and Tj Zebley scored a goal each.

This was a game in the making. It was the first All Star team/game in 15 years in the USPHL Premier Division. It was an excellent atmosphere for the boys. They got to play with and against so many players from around the league. In Florida we had players from the Tampa Juniors, the Florida Jr Blades and the Florida Eels. Joining the Florida Division were players from the Jersey Hitmen and the NY Aviators. The intangible ingredient here is the fostering of USPHL camaraderie and interleave sportsmanship

From the Florida coaching staff was  Premier coach Frankie Scarpaci and Tampa Juniors Head Coach Garrett Strot

What an incredible event for the Florida Players to compete in the Hub City All Star event against the players from the Northern team All Stars.  The Florida All Stars were selected to the American Division where as the Northern opponents were in the National Division. Team Florida was made up of players from the Florida Eels the Jr Blades and the Tampa Juniors.

The Florida Eels had the following players selected to this all star team: Mathieu Rioux, Anthony Zebley, Kaleb Harrop, Matt Clift, Landen Engles, Vincent Cartier, Ryan Chambre and Jake Mork

Joining me as coach was former NHL star player Filip Kuba. Coach Kuba was great with the players. What an experience to have him there.

This was so exciting for our guys. The league set this up like a NHL style operation. Top of the line jerseys, A Light show, the introduction of each player, 3 stars of the game, players of the game from each team and a game MVP

It was first class all the way. The other intangibles here was that our Eels guys got to play with players from the Jr Blades and The Tampa Juniors. This brought an entirely different element to the game and our hockey community.  For one game they were not adversaries. They were teammates. We as coaches and administrators hope that this will foster camaraderie amongst them. That they will bring back this unique experience and a heightened sportsmanship in the Florida junior hockey community.

As one of the coaches for Team Florida i was very impressed with all the boys on the team. Yes for sure they were all very talented. But the character of the boys in the locker room, on the bench and on the ice. First class all the way. All of their teammates and coaches should be indeed extremely proud of them.

USPHL Premier Hub City All-Stars

Team National (Red)

Forwards

Demeed Podrezov, Florida Eels (‘00)

Gage Dill, Florida Eels (‘01)

T.J. Zebley, Florida Eels (‘00)

Tristan Roost, Florida Eels (‘00)

Stanley Lucas, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘00)

Aaron Frenkel, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘00)

Connor Reed, Tampa Bay Juniors (00)

Cameron Croteau, Florida Jr. Blades (‘01)

Jason Tynan, New York Aviators (‘00)

Ross Jaldung, New York Aviators (‘01)

Jay Finan, Jersey Hitmen (‘01)

Zachary Ostrowski, P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (‘01)

Vladislav Suhhodolov, San Diego Sabers (‘03)

Defensemen

Cade Swygert, Florida Eels (‘00)

Lazarus Kaebel, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘01)

Jack Anderson, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘02)

Kyle Lindholm, Florida Jr. Blades (‘00)

Nathan Albrecht, New York Aviators (‘00)

Johnny LaMacchia, Jersey Hitmen (‘00)

Goaltenders

Alexandre Caron, Florida Eels (‘01)

Cade Kujawski, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘00)

Michael Marino, New York Aviators (‘02)

USPHL Elite Hub City All-Stars

Team American (White)

Forwards

Anthony Zebley, Florida Eels (‘04)

Kaleb Harrop, Florida Eels (‘01)

Matthew Clift, Florida Eels (‘01)

Mathieu Rioux, Florida Eels (‘02)

Landen Engles, Florida Eels (‘03)

Ryan Bahula, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘03)

Adam Custable, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘03)

Jack Fleer, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘02)

Tim Ruf, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘02)

Rory Neish, Florida Jr. Blades (‘02)

Derrick Hambling, Florida Jr. Blades (‘03)

Alex Broadhead, Florida Jr. Blades (‘03)

Defensemen

Filip Kuba, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘04)

Nash Cobbs, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘03)

Vincent Cartier, Florida Eels (‘03)

Ryan Chambre, Florida Eels (‘03)

Jeremy Pizzola, Florida Jr. Blades (‘04)

Matthew Walters, Florida Jr. Blades (‘02)

Goaltenders

Jacob Mork, Florida Eels (‘02)

Evan Spinella, Tampa Bay Juniors (‘03

Florida Eels Elite defeat the IHC in one of the biggest games of the season. The IHC is one of the top teams in the Northeast and ranked number 1 in the league for that matter.  This was a playoff type game. The lead was exchanged several times in the game and the Eels had to come back from a 4-3 deficit to capture the win. In fact, Matt Clift  scored a shorthanded goal at the 10-minute mark of the 3rd period to tie it up. Then Mathieu Rioux  his 11th goal of the season to tally the game winner.

To make it a real  nail-biter,  the IHC pulled their goalie and the Eels committed a penalty with minutes remaining but the Eels team defense and netminder slammed the door shut to capture the win. Another high note is Anthony Zebley scored another pair of goals in this game: That is 8 goals in two games!

Both teams played extremely well in this contest. It is another example of the success of the Hub City games. Great competition for the players. What an incredible experience for all involved. Thus far the Eels have played the Northern Cyclones (NH), Jersey Hitmen (NJ), New York Aviators (NY), and the IHC Mass). The Eels have gone 4-0 in the Hub City games.

Eight different Eels Premier players score in this debut yesterday afternoon in the Florida Eels win over the CJR. That was a solid balanced attack and that is what we were looking for. It was scoring by committee in the entire game.

This was the 2nd game for the Eel’s Premier team in the Hub City and they have done quite well in those 2 games. Game one the Eels defeated the Jersey Hitmen 12-3. This is 20 goals in 2 games. The Eels Premier team has been scorching hot since coming back from the Christmas Break.

The Eels have been solid in all 3 zones. What is the most important stat for GM Scarpaci is the defensive efforts and performance. Allowing one goal is team defense and in the playoffs Defense wins games.

We have one more game  next Wednesday  in the Hub before heading to Charleston for a 3 game series.

Great Job guys.

Scoring in yesterday’s game went as follows:

9:05	EEL	Tristan Roost (18) ASST: None
10:48	CJR	Zack Zeidel (4) ASST: Joseph Cantelmo (12) (PP)
17:04	EEL	Etienne Castonguay (2) ASST: Easton Moore (1)
2nd
4:38	EEL	Easton Moore (1) ASST: Hunter Howe (3)
8:16	EEL	Ryan Goral (6) ASST: Taurin Haddon- Harris (16), Cade Swygert (19) (PP)
3rd
2:48	EEL	Luke Jankauskas (5) ASST: None
3:16	EEL	TJ Zebley (19) ASST: Eduard Malakyan (1), Ryan Goral (8)
10:54	EEL	Collin Patterson (4) ASST: Tristan Roost (19), Taurin Haddon- Harris (17)
11:24	EEL	Collin Patterson (5) ASST: Gage Dill (24), Mikhail Melikov (7)
15:52	EEL	Justin Maroszek (8) ASST: Mikhail Melikov (8), Taurin Haddon- Harris (18)
16:39	EEL	Justin Maroszek (9) ASST: None   In Net for the Eels was Liam O’Gwen who turned away 24 of 25 shots

Three Eels Premier Players Selected As “Player of the Month All Stars” For December Outstanding Recognition:  

12 Jan by Frank Scarpaci

 

USPHL Premier December Players Of The Month: South Region

By USPHL Staff

Florida Division
Forwards
T.J. Zebley, Florida Eels
A seven-goal, four-assist month for Zebley (’00/Philadelphia, Penn.) helped the Eels stay in their battle with the Tampa Bay Juniors for top spot in the Florida Division. In one of the key head-to-head battles with the Juniors on Dec. 6, Zebley chipped in two goals and an assist. Two of his goals were game-winners and two others came with his team playing shorthanded at the time.

Parker Williams, Florida Jr. Blades
Williams (‘01/West Bloomfield, Mich.) collected five goals and a couple assists for the Blades in December, highlighted by a three-goal game against Atlanta Mad Hatters on Dec. 6, including the game-winner. That game came in his second game with the Blades, having joined the team just the previous day. Williams will play a key role in the Blades hunt for a playoff position in the season’s second half.

Aaron Hamel, Charleston Colonials
Hamel (‘01/Okemos, Mich.) also collected seven points with five goals in December, including two points in each of the team’s final three games before the Christmas Break. Hamel’s biggest contribution comes at the dots where he has a faceoff winning percentage of 62%. Against the Rush on Dec. 13, Hamel raised his expertise to 90 percent.

Defensemen
Jack Anderson, Tampa Bay Juniors
On the score sheet Anderson (’02/Wayzata, Minn.) notched a goal and three assists. Off the sheet he amassed 25 takeaways. On Dec. 20, the Juniors played two games to wrap up the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule. Anderson scored a goal, fired nine shots, blocked five other shots and put up a +4 for the day.

Gage McNeish, Florida Eels
McNeish (’01/Summerville, S.C.) collected a goal and three assists for the Eels in December and made his presence felt in his own end with 34 takeaways. He averaged over 21 minutes of ice time and saw that ratcheted up to nearly 24 minutes with 27 shifts in a key game against the Tampa Bay Juniors.

Goaltender
Liam O’Gwen, Florida Eels
O’Gwen (‘02/Basking Ridge, N.J.) picked up four wins for the Eels in December and faced 260 shots in the month, turning aside all but 18 for a Goals Against Average of 2.51 and a .931 Save Percentage. On Dec. 18 O’Gwen kicked out 38 of 39 against the Generals in a 4-1 win and he added 42 of 44 against the Mad Hatters earlier in the month.

Florida Eels Elite team Defeated NY Aviators in a high scoring 10-4 showdown

Despite spotting the NY Aviators 3 goals in the 1st period, the Eels came storming back as they turn on a high octane offense and scored 10 goals in the 2nd and 3rd period.

Incredible double hat trick by Anthony Zebley with a 6 goal performance and a hat trick by Matt Clift to nail down the win