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USPHL Premier Players Of The Week: South Region 

 

Week of Nov. 24, 2020

 

Florida Division

Forward: Jake Court, Florida Eels

Court (‘00/Fort Myers, Fla.) is not only a locally grown product for the Eels, but he’s been a loyal soldier for now four seasons. Most recently, Court posted his first USPHL Premier hat trick and added three assists to help the Eels sweep the rival Florida Jr. Blades.

 

Defense: Owen Larson, Atlanta Mad Hatters

Larson (‘02/Snellville, Ga.) is another four-year USPHL veteran who has been putting together a heck of a campaign for the Mad Hatters. The team just swept Tampa Bay over a three-day weekend swing, and Larson posted three assists over the course of the series. He led in ice time and also defensively with 30 takeaways.

 

Goaltender: Noah Ping, Atlanta Mad Hatters

Ping (‘02/Duluth, Ga.) just arrived in Atlanta with multiple years of junior hockey under his blades, and he’s shown just what he can do especially recently where he stopped 70 of 74 shots for two wins. He remains 3-0 overall.

 

Southeast Division 

Forward: Adam Krofchalk, Richmond Generals 

Krofchalk (‘00/Midlothian, Va.) is now in his sixth USPHL season, and fourth with the Premier Generals. He posted three goals and three assists in the team’s three-game weekend against Carolina and Potomac, in which they went 2-0-1.

 

Defense: Dylan Blue, Carolina Jr. Hurricanes

Continuing the theme of hearty USPHL veterans, Blue (‘02/Raleigh, N.C.) is in his fourth year, and just keeps getting better. In two games against Richmond – a loss and an OT win – Blue scored a goal and added three assists, including on Daniel Nau’s OT game-winner. Defensively, he won 76 percent (16 of 21) of his 1-on-1 puck battles.

 

Goaltender: Nick Bernstein, Richmond Generals

A multiple winner of the USPHL Elite South Goaltender of the Month award, Bernstein (‘01/Valley View, Ohio) has made a seamless transition to the USPHL Premier. Most recently, he defeated Carolina and also stomached the overtime loss. All told, Bernstein stopped 63 of 67 shots and he currently stands 4-1-0-1.

Florida Junior Blades 0 at Florida Eels 4 – Status: Final
Saturday, November 21, 2020 – Fort Myers Skatium

Florida Junior Blades 0 0 0 – 0
Florida Eels 2 1 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Florida Eels, Calvanese 2   2:28. 2, Florida Eels, Engles 5 (Peters), 19:26. Penalties-Neish Fjb (slashing), 6:02; King Fjb (holding), 17:18; Rioux Eel (cross-checking), 17:48.

2nd Period-3, Florida Eels, Rioux 5 (Haas), 9:19. Penalties-Wooldridge Fjb (holding), 0:50; Chambre Eel (disqualficaton), 0:50; Chambre Eel (roughing), 1:49; Gusty Fjb (interference), 14:30; Campbell Eel (cross-checking), 14:30.

3rd Period-4, Florida Eels, Hedrick 3 (Rioux, Zebley), 6:30. Penalties-Jeffords Fjb (roughing), 4:14; Manicki Fjb (roughing), 14:57; Clift Eel (roughing), 14:57; Zebley Eel (roughing), 14:57; Shraiberg Fjb (disqualification-continuing or attempting to continue to fight), 16:47; Huitt Eel (disqualification-continuing or attempting to continue to fight), 16:47; King Fjb (disqualification-continuing or attempting to continue to fight), 17:58; Smith Fjb (bench -unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:58; Campbell Eel (disqualification-continuing or attempting to continue to fight), 17:58; Palos Eel (interference), 19:04.

Shots on Goal-Florida Junior Blades 7-14-8-29. Florida Eels 16-14-13-43.
Power Play Opportunities-Florida Junior Blades 0 / 0; Florida Eels 0 / 0.
Goalies-Florida Junior Blades, Wolfert 2-4-0-0 (43 shots-39 saves). Florida Eels, Schubert 1-0-0-0 (29 shots-29 saves).

The Florida Eels Elite team is looking for a huge Break Out weekend by some players.  In order for the team to reach its optimum potential we need  all of our guys  to perform. Not just a select few; we need them to set up and showcase their talents and this is the perfect weekend to start. It is the weekend before Thanksgiving and a pivotable juncture in the season. When we come back from the Thanksgiving break, we hit the games hard with 2 vs the Tampa Juniors home and away, 3 away games in Atlanta and the 4 game USPHL Showcase just before the Christmas break. That is 7 games set in December. Very exciting as there will be a plethora of college scouts at the Showcase and on Hockey TV  for the other 5 games for the pre showcase games garnering a snapshot and preview of the USPHL Christmas Showcase.

 

Challenges have been issued: Today we are looking for strong efforts from  20 year old veteran forward Pablo Palos from Texas. Pablo was hot earlier in the season who scored 4 goals and notched one assists. At 6’2 210 lbs. he offers size and power and has so much upside. We are looking for him to rekindle his offensive game and help pilot his team to a series of wins against the Blades and in December.  He has the scoring ability. We know that. It is time to put the puck in the net. Another key veteran that we expect to jump start his game is Nick Vasquez. He is a 3-year veteran of juniors and plays with a lot of physicality and spirit. He is very aggressive, and we are looking for him to channel those energies to score. We know he has the will to win. He needs to help put the team on the scoreboard.

 

In keeping with size we have 6’3” 200 lbs. rookie forward  Nathan Hedrick who has scored 2 goals and notched 1 helper. Nate can be a very towering forward and has very good skill set. We are looking for his fluent game to come on strong against the cross-town rivals. Once he finds his game, he will be a force to reckon with. The Eels are very high on him. This kid has a great attitude. A few goals from him will unleash the confidence he needs to become a power forward who can score. Next we are looking for 2nd year veteran Ciro Calvanese to continue with his scoring. He scored his first Eels goal in Atlanta and it was no surprise to GM Scarpaci or any of the coaching staff. He has incredible speed and acceleration. Last season he had more break always.  He simply needs to finish. Now that the ice has cracked so to speak, we feel this will be a regular occurrence. He is one of the most dedicated players on the team and we are all cheering for his success. We know he will do anything to help his team win. He now as added another element to his game. His  forechecking and physical  play. .That should help trigger offense.

 

Continuing with our Veterans is Peter Haas who came over from the Premier team. Haas no doubt will rise to the upper echelon on this team. He has a high hockey IQ very good skill set and a strong leader. He is a 3-year veteran of juniors and we are counting on him to get the team going. He is very strong in all 3 zones. I predict he will score this weekend.

 

On the rookie side  are  Trevor Bass and William Heikkila This is their  time to step up and show the coaches what they have. It is wide open. It does not matter if you are a rookie or 3-year veteran. We need players to expend every ounce of determination, spend all their  energies on every shift, forecheck with abandonment, relentlessly back check and drive to the net with thirst and hunger…. That is what we need from them.  They need to take their game to the next level. That extra shot. Make that clear pass. That effective hit. Take that  block shot. We are looking for some of the above forwards to bring secondary scoring that the team needs. Who will be that guy? Well it is as much an opportunity for any    of the guys listed above

 

On the Defense side, we have a number of guys who we need a great series  from:  2nd year veteran Steve Huitt , 3rd year veteran Payton Donica , Rookie Neil Campbell , 2nd year veteran JJ Peters and swing forward/defensemen and 2nd year veteran Zach Simbro. Simply stated we need more. Much more and it is their time that is why they are here to become impact players and get the experience to advance to the Next Level be it Premier and or college.

 

From our goalies, simple message. Stop the puck. Weather any storm. Be mentally tough.

 

We do believe the message was delivered this week at practice. No more waiting. No more thinking someone else is going to do it. No, it is up to you to step up here. This is a critical weekend to demonstrate your wares, talents energies fortitude and determination. I as General Manager is expecting to see a unit as a team and individuals to show me their unwavering commitment to win!!!

 

Congrats to Florida Eels Elite sniper Anthony Zebley for being selected as Player of the Week.
Anthony scored 2 goals in each of the 2 games against the Tampa Juniors  last week for a total of 4 on the weekend and notched 1 assists for a 5 point weekend. He was equally strong without the puck and offering his leadership in garnering 2 ties against Eels 1st place foes – the Tampa Juniors. He has already scored 9 goals and 11 helpers for 20 points He is close to scoring 2 points per game.

Weekend Round Up Eels vs Jr. Blades

This Weekend the Eels have a home and away series vs the Jr. Blades. The Premier team squares off Saturday at 3:20pm at home at the Fort Myers Skatium. They sit tied for 1st place with the Tampa Juniors with 20 points compared to the Jr Blades who are in 5th place in the Florida Division with only 2 wins 2 OT losses and only 6 points. The two squads meet again Sunday at Hertz Arena 12:15 pm to complete the weekend series.

 

The Eels are coming off a disappointing loss to the Tampa Juniors in last Sunday’s game. They were on a hot run where they out gunned Atlanta 8-0,  8-4 and 5-1 in a 3-game series in Atlanta. Then they unleashed a 8-2 bashing of the Tampa on Friday. They worked extremely hard this week to get back on track and look back to form.

 

The Elite team also has a home and away series starting with a late game Saturday evening 9:00 pm at home at the Skatium and then away at Hertz Arena at 9:15 am. The Eels Elite have 6 wins 4 losses and 3 OTLs for 15 points owning 2nd place. Compared that to the Blades 2 wins 13 losses and 1 otl for 5 points.  The Blades did manage a big win in Atlanta this past weekend and they are hoping to feed off of that this weekend. The Eels are coming off 2  tough over time losses against the Tampa Juniors and are looking to gain some day light between them and the 3rd place Madhatters who have 13 points on the season and about to travel down to Tampa to take on the Juniors. No doubt that will be a tall order for the Madhatters. The Eels know this could be a 4-point weekend and gain significant ground on Atlanta.

 

Please come and join us at the Skatium Saturday for our home games or if you cannot join us on HockeyTV.

For the 2nd time in the weekend series between the Eels and Tampa Elite the games went into OT. On both cases the Eels came up short as the Blades tipped it out of for the win the first game 7-6 and on Sunday Tampa put it to bed 4-3. These were 2 very hard fought battles for both teams. Tampa is a pretty good squad and the Eels should be proud of their efforts. They learned quite a bit from these games especially having to come back from a 4-1 deficit on Friday night. It builds character  and team identity.

The Eels Face-off vs the Jr Blades Saturday at home and away Sunday at Hertz