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The Florida Eels Premier team advances on to the USPHL Nationals.

The Eels Premier team went into the Florida Divisional playoffs taking nothing for granted. Leaving nothing for chance. They are a team that defies the word complacency. They never take anything for granted nor do they believe they are entitled to anything. They had a lot to be excited about. After all,  both the Eels Premier team and its Elite squad finished in the Florida Divisors. In fact, they held on to First Place the entire season. That was indeed phenomenal in it of itself. Over the last month or so rather than taking their foot off the proverbial pedal, the Premier team heightened their training. They continued their daily training  3 hours per day  and then some. No letting up.

In the playoff round it showed. The Eels Premier team took their crosstown rivals the Florida Jr Blades by storm. In game one they shutout the Blades 4-0. They were men on a mission. All cylinders were firing. The ice seemed titled. It was a continuation of the last two regular season games  when they unraveled the Blades in the final 2 games of the season by scores of 6-1 and 5-1. In game 2 of the playoffs the Eels outgunned the Blades 6-3 to sweep the weekend in 2 games.

The Eels now move on to Boston for Nationals. They will face teams from the Mid-Atlantic Division The Mid-West East and the New England. The final teams are yet to be determined. Those decisions will be made this weekend after the playoff rounds in the North and Midwest are completed this weekend. But the preparation won’t change this week. The boys are poised and determined as ever. These boys are anything but cocky or arrogant. They know they have to bring their best game to the Nationals. All of the teams there will be very good. After all they had to good all season long to earn the right to advance to playoffs and they had to be very good to advance to Nationals. We won’t take any team for granted. The question is always asked “how to do you match up against this team or that team….?”  Well these are all hypnotical mental exercises. You really don’t know until the puck drops. Sure the Eels played the Islanders Hockey Club and the Rockets and the Philadelphia Hockey Club at showcases. But those games are history They are not diapositive.  Teams improve. Personnel changed. Playoffs are a new season.

The Premier Division is exceptionally difficult to win. USPHL teams that advance to Nationals  are all extremely strong and have very talented  players. One thing for sure,   the Eels coaches and players will be extremely busy watching playoff games this weekend. There is no replacement for watching these games and learning to opposition.  Additionally, at the end of this Sunday’s games, our coaches will be watching videos on these teams that did advance. We don’t have the luxury to scout those teams on prior games over the last month. So HockeyTV is a valuable tool for us.

We can count on one thing and that is knowing our team, The Eels will be ready and that is what we can control.

Congrats The Florida Eels Premier Team Advances to Nationals

Four Teams Advance To USPHL Premier National Championships On Sunday

By Joshua Boyd / USPHL.com, 03/01/20, 11:00PM EST

Sunday was a busy day in the USPHL Premier, as the first four teams for the 2020 USPHL National Championships were identified.

Full USPHL Premier Schedule With Summaries

Philip Shemyakin scored at the 11:28 mark of overtime to send the Charlotte Rush to the USPHL National Championships. They were able to sweep the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes.

The Hampton Roads Whalers ended Sunday night by holding off a plucky Richmond Generals team in a 3-1 game to send the defending National Champions back to Boston for a shot at their third straight title.

The Tampa Bay Juniors get a chance to show what they’ll have at the National Championships. They won their series against Charleston by a combined 9-2 score.

The Florida Eels make a return trip to the Nationals, as well, after clearly defeating their rivals the Florida Jr. Blades in two games.

Other playoff action in the USPHL Premier saw three teams advance in the playoffs, with one series remaining for each between themselves and the National Championships.

The Junior Bruins were the first lower seed in the Premier playoffs to advance to the finals.

They utilized a sound 9-2 victory against the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs to reach the next series, which will pit them against the No. 2 overall team in the Premier Division, the Islanders Hockey Club.

Philadelphia Hockey Club also had an offensive outburst in their third playoff game, defeating the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders by a score of 9-1 and a 2-1 win in the series.

The Metro Jets Development Program earned the 2-0 sweep over the Midwest Blackbirds to advance in the Midwest East playoffs, joining the Fort Wayne Spacemen and Decatur Blaze as all having advanced this weekend.

For Over A Decade, Both Eels Teams Advance To The Playoffs

By USAJHM Staff, 02/25/20, 2:15PM EST

It is indeed impressive when you have an organization make the playoffs for over a decade.

When it is not just one team, but two, advancing to the playoffs each year for over 10 years, it spells consistency.

When those teams systematically also advance to Nationals, now that is impressive.

“It isn’t easy to reach this plateau. To the contrary, it requires enormous determination and hard work and many hours on behalf of the hockey operations: the General Manager, his Premier and Elite coaches and staff to go out and recruit,” said Eels GM Frank Scarpaci. “It is not just a matter of attending postseason showcases and scouting and signing players. That is the easy part, albeit expensive. Anyone can scout. The key is ‘recruitment.’

“For the Eels, that involves scouting, yes, but equally important doing due diligence on a player,” Scarpaci added. “Does he have the skill set? Does he have the character to play in your organization? Does he fit into the Eels work ethic culture? How would he fit in with the existing players? What type of commitment does this individual have? How has he shown it before?”

After recruitment, the next step is player development. That is one of the hallmarks of the Florida Eels program.

The program includes over three hours per day of training five days per week; 8-10 scrimmages in addition to regular season games and three days per week of video and analytics. The Eels program requires fitness training five days per week.

“These endeavors all require a dedicated coaching staff that places the interest of development over a win. In the end, we know with our formula the wins will come. We are looking for long-term results not short-term gains. And they have,” Scarpaci said. “The proof is well over a decade of playoff appearances and a plethora of National appearances for our teams.”

The USPHL Premier Eels have led the Florida Division wire to wire, and they have been in the top five of the entire league throughout the season. Additionally, the USPHL Elite team has led all season, and has been between first and seventh all season.

“This year, once again, the Eels will be advancing another host of players to college. Again, this does not happen simply because they are there,” Scarpaci added. “It is a full concerted effort as well as a partnership between the organization and the players. It is a commitment to the advancement of our players.”