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Whalers Florida Winter Showcase Recap

By Whaler Nation, 12/22/16, 7:30PM EST

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Elite Review


#12 John Moncovich

The Whalers Elite team came into the weekend looking to keep pace with the Charlotte Rush at the top of the Southern Conference with 2 games in hand and would do so without the services of forwards Andriy Denyskin (World Juniors) and John Horn (illness) and the additions of 2 newcomers, goalie Alec Lindberg and forward Geoff George.

With the USP3 team playing Thursday night, the Elite squad had to wait around until 9pm Friday to play their first game of the weekend when they faced off with the Florida Eels.  Despite numerous penalties, the Whalers were in firm control of this game, although 6 Eels power play chances kept the shots on goal tight.  John Moncovich tallied the lone 1st half goal to give the blue and green a 1-0 halftime lead, then converted again in the 2nd half along with Zach Zalar to propel the Whalers to a 3-0 shutout win.  Sean Dickson secured shutout #8 on the season.  The shots ended tied 24-24.

Game 2 on Saturday against the Palm Beach Hawks was a roller coaster ride.  The Whalers scored 4 times in the 1st half to take a 4-2 lead into the intermission.  Zach Zalar scored early in the 2nd to make it 5-2 and it looked as though the route was on, but Palm Beach had a different idea.  Within a 6 minute span the Hawks would score 3 goals to tie the game at 5-5 and chase newcomer Alec Lindberg in his 1st start with the Whalers.  After Sean Dickson replaced Lindberg, the Whalers responded, scoring 3 more times, all off the stick of John Moncovich, to secure the 8-5 win.  Moncovich finished the game with 4 goals, while Colton Seeman had 3 points and Roman Gaudet had 3 assists.  The Whalers held a 39-22 advantage in shots.

Game 3 of the weekend was a tightly contested defensive battle in which special teams was the factor, as 3 of the 4 goals were scored on the power play.  John Moncovich and Brendon Zack each scored 1st half power play goals to give the Whalers a 2-0 lead after 25 minutes of action.  In the 2nd half, Carolina answered just 2 minutes in on the power play to make it 2-1.  The game would stay that way until Colton Seeman tallied with less than 10 minutes to play to make it 3-1 Whalers and that’s how it would end.  The Whalers had a 29-21 shot on goal advantage.

The final game of the weekend saw the Whalers saddled with their first loss of the weekend despite a 33-18 edge in shots.  The Whalers trailed 1-0 after 25 minutes of play when they surrendered another PP goal against.  In the 2nd half, John Moncovich tied things just a minute in on the PP before the Knights re-took the lead at the 16:22 mark.  It took until the final 30 seconds of the game for Moncovich to tie the game and force overtime.  Just 16 seconds into the 3 on 3 overtime period, Atlanta’s Evan Schieber would find the net to propel Atlanta to a 3-2 win, their 1st over the Whalers this year and only the Elite teams 5th loss of the season.  The Whalers, with the overtime loss, took 9 of 10 possible points on the weekend, but lost a point in the race for the top overall seed in the South to Charlotte, who went 4-0 and took all 10 points.

USP3 Review


#23 Ryan Lorenz

After a hard fought 3 game battle with Atlanta, the Whalers USP3 team faced another 5 games starting on Thursday in Florida, as the team would wrap up brutal stretch of 8 games in 9 days before the holiday break.

Things wouldn’t start easy for the Whalers, as up first was the showcase host, and undefeated 29-0 Florida Jr. Blades.  The Whalers would start the game with a physical brand of hockey and a strong defensive effort 15 minutes into the game, limiting the high powered Blades to just 3 shots, but then the wheels fell off the bus, as defensive miscues cost the Whalers on 3 straight shifts, and the boys found themselves in a 4-0 hole after 1 half of play.  The 2nd half didn’t get much better, as the Whalers were unable to connect on 4 power play chances, as the Blades shut down the Whalers in a 6-0 shutout.  Florida held a 26-15 shot advantage.

Game 2 would start with an all too familiar foe in the Atlanta Knights, making the 4th time in 5 games the Whalers faced Atlanta.  Early on the Whalers looked to still be licking their wounds from the night before, and just 30 seconds into the 2nd half the Whalers found themselves in a 4-0 hole on the back on 2 Atlanta power play goals.  Things looked grim, until the 6 minute mark of the period when Nolan Cavanagh converted on a back door pass from Mathieu Doucet to spark some life into the Whalers bench and ignite the comeback.  Rookie forward Ryan Lorenz would tally 2 of his 3 goals within minutes of Cavanagh’s marker and his hat trick tally with under 30 seconds to play to send the game into overtime. After a scoreless OT, the team would face-off in the shootout.  Max Loga and Caelan Bolanowski would score in the early rounds, but the shootout was knotted at 2-2 and would need sudden death when who else but Ryan Lorenz scored in the 4th round to send the Whalers to victory.  The Whalers held a 34-24 edge in shots.

Game 3 of the Weekend would pit the Whalers against the Florida Eels for the 1st time this season.  Despite holding a 44-26 edge in shots, the Whalers just couldn’t overcome costly penalties and major defensive meltdowns, losing 5-3.  The Eels held a 2-1 lead after 25 minutes on a power play goal and shorthanded breakaway goal and extend their lead to 3-1 with another PP goal early in the 2nd half.  Midway through the period the Whalers scored on back to back shifts to tie the game at 3, but less than a minute later a defensive miscue allowed the Eels to take the lead for the final time, tacking on a late empty netter to defeat the Whalers 5-3.

Game 4 was a gutsy effort for the Whalers on only 4 short hours of rest against a speedy Tampa Bay team.  Forward Mattieu Doucet, one of the hottest Whalers of late was unable to go with an upper body injury, and expected started Steve McGuire fell ill during pre-game and Everett Yasinski was tasked with back to back starts.  After falling behind 1-0 less than 3 minutes in, Caelan Bolanowski and Matthew Hanchon gave the Whalers a 2-1 lead after the 1st half.  Both Bolanowski and Hanchon would find pay dirt again in the 2nd half and rookie forward Tyler Dienna caught the Tampa goalie out of position to notch his 4th of the year and propel the Whalers to a 5-2 win.  The Whalers held a 42-23 shot on goal advantage.

Playing 8 games in 9 days, game 5 of the weekend against Palm Beach, the Whalers looked like a team with little left in the tanks.  Both teams exchange 1st half goals, but a fluky Palm Beach goal from center ice gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead after half.  Mid-way through the 2nd half, Palm Beach would tally again for a 3-1 lead, and the Whalers just looked out of gas.  Yet, with just under 8 minutes to go, co-captains Gary Eastlack and Max Loga found enough to capitalize and tie the game at 3-3 and send the game to OT.  After a scoreless OT, the Whalers were unable to muster a goal in the shootout, Palm Beach got 1, and the Whalers were only able to salvage a point in a 4-3 shootout loss.  The Whalers held a 40-21 shot advantage.

What's on Tap?

After some much deserved time off for Christmas, with 12 games left in the regular season, the Whalers will move from the Florida warmth to the Massachusetts cold for the USPHL Winter Showcase at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, MA.

USP3 Opponents

Jersey Hitmen (19-6-3, 41 points, 2nd North)

Boston Jr. Bruins (10-15-1, 21 points, 4th North)

Daytona Racers (6-20-1, 13 points, 10th South)

Jersey Shore Whalers (18-8-3, 39 points, 3rd North)

Elite Opponents

Rochester Monarchs (19-5-2, 40 points, 3rd North)

Detroit Fighting Irish (3-20-3, 9 points, Last Mid-West)

Bay State Breakers (0-26-1, 1 point, 9th North)

P.A.L. Islanders (15-9-1, 31 points, 6th North)

All games can be seen live online on HockeyTV.

NEWS AND NOTES

Elite forward John Moncovich took home USPHL Elite Offensive Player of the week honors with an impressive 9 goals and 1 assist, including 2 game winning goals during the 4 games in Florida.  Moncovich's 40 goals lead the league in scoring.

USP3 forward Ryan Lorenz wasn't to bad either in the return to his home state of Florida, as he notched 7 points on the weekend on 4 goals and 3 assists, including the shootout game winner against Atlanta.

Elite forward Brandon Osmundson put up 6 assists on the showcase weekend and leads the league in points (61) and assists (43).

The Whalers Elite team holds 4 of the league's top 10 points scorers in Osmundson 1st (61), Moncovich 2nd (57), Gaudet 4th (53), and Brock 8th (49).

With 3 wins on the weekend, Elite goalie Sean Dickson extended his league leading wins total to 18, 4 more than 2nd place Eric Schuette of the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings.  Dickson also leads the league in shutouts with 8.

With his win over Atlanta, USP3 goalie Everett Yasinski moved into 4th in the league in wins with 11.  His new running mate Steve McGuire, is 3-1-1 in his 1st 5 starts with the Whalers.

With 2 goals on Saturday against Tampa Bay, USP3 forward Caelan Bolanowski snapped a 9 game goalless drought.