USHL
BioSteel All American Game
Team Blue defeated Team White at USA Hockey Arena in one of the top events of the scouting season. Will Smith, #3 ranked North American skater on the latest NHL Central Scouting rankings, took home Player of the Game honors after scoring 2 goals and adding an assist. Zeev Buium (USNTDP) , and Nick Vantassell (Green Bay, UMass) both had 1G 1A for Team White.
Eastern Conference Race
With 2nd through 7th (including USNTDP) separated by just 6 points, compared to the Western Conference gap of 12 points between 2nd-7th, the Eastern Conference playoff push will be a must watch in the upcoming months. Friday’s games only tightened the race, with #1 Chicago falling to Waterloo of the Western Conference, #2 Green Bay losing to #3 Cedar Rapids, and #8 Madison defeating #4 Youngstown. 3rd-6th is now separated by just 2 points, with #6 Dubuque now on a 4 game winning streak.
Phantoms Land Morin
The Youngstown Phantoms tendered Zachary Morin from the Little Caesars U15 program. The skilled Quebec native has tallied 41 goals and 53 assists this season thus far, playing for the top U15 program in the US.
Waterloo Stays Hot
2023 has been perfect for the Black Hawks, but had a tough task Friday night vs the Chicago Steel, the #1 team in the Eastern Conference had their streak on the line. Down 4-1 entering the 3rd, Waterloo came back with 4 goals in the last 10 minutes, 3 in the last 3 minutes, to extend their winning streak to 7 games, winning 5-4.
NAHL
Andreychuk’s Point Streak
Northeast General’s David Andreychuk added 4 assists in his last 2 games this week to extend his point streak to 9 games, with points in 16 of his last 20. The ‘02 Northeast captain leads the NAHL in points (51), and assists (37), followed by teammate Paul Minnehan, tied for 2nd most points with 45.
Divisional Races
With about 3 months left in the season, playoff races are slowly starting to form. Entering Saturday, Austin leads the Central Division by 12 points, with 2nd-6th separated by just 9 points. In the East, Maryland’s lead is now 9 points over the Titans with 46 points and Northeast Generals with 45. The battle for 4th should be interesting, wit 4th-6th separated by just 2 points. Fairbanks tops the Midwest division by just 2 points to Minnesota Wilderness, with 2nd-7th separated by 8 points. Outside of Lone Star (54) and Oklahoma (51), the South’s playoff push will feature 3 teams separated by just 4 points for the final 2 spots, with Odessa trying to stay in the hunt at 33 points.
Top Rookies
Oklahoma’s Joey Delgreco and Minot’s Chase LaPinta remain the only rookies over a point per game. Wisconsin goaltender Gavin Moffatt has posted top 5 numbers in save % (.950) and GAA (1.49) in his 15 starts.
Freaky Friday
All division leaders : Austin Bruins (Central), Maryland Black Bears (East), Fairbanks Ice Dogs (Midwest), and Lone Star Brahmas (South) dropped their Friday games.
Top Attendance Averages
Shreveport - 2,513
Amarillo - 2,385
Fairbanks - 2,230
Corpus Christi - 2,208
Lone Star - 1996
Top Prospects Tournament
Rosters have been set for the 2023 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, held 2.6-2.7 at UPMC Lemieux Sports Center in Pennsylvania. The tournament includes only NAHL players without NCAA commitments, with 4 players per team.
Schedule
2.6.22 - 1:00pm : South vs. Midwest
2.6.22 - 4:00pm : East vs. Central
2.7.22 - 11:00am: Central vs. South
2.7.22 - 2:00pm: Midwest vs. East
NCDC
Twin City Heating Up
The Thunder will enter Sunday’s matchup vs Northern Cyclones on a 6-0-1 run, getting back into the playoff hunt. Currently 5th, Twin City is now just 7 points back of 2nd place North Cyclones.
A Tight South Division
With PAL Jr Islanders 8-2 in their last 10, the Jersey Hitmen’s reign on top of the division may be in jeopardy this season. With the majority of the division around .500 in their last 10, the next couple of months should be interesting with 1st - 3rd separated by just 2 points, and 1st-5th separated by 10. Luca Leighton, currently tied for 2nd in points on the year with 41, has put up 5G 5A in his last 5 games.
All Star Game
The 2023 NCDC All Star Game series will feature a traditional all star game, as well as a Young guns game featuring younger NCDC and other Junior/Midget levels within the USPHL. The game will be held 2.21.23 at Foxboro Sports Center in Massachusetts.
Current Stat Leaders
The Northern Cyclones Paden Hicks and Michael Herrera of the Utica Comets are tied for most goals with 22, while Rocket Hockey Club’s Caden Cranston leads the league in points with 43. Luca Leighton (PAL Jr Islanders) leads all skaters with a 1.37 point per game average, followed by Nicholas Ahern (Jersey Hitmen) at 1.31 PPG.
Included With Subscription
Full access to catalogue of articles on the TSA Scouting Journal
Full access to all TSA Player Portal reports and Data Packs
USHL, NAHL Draft prospect reports and draft analysis
College spotlights and analysis
Information from our team of family advisors