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Previewing the 2017 USPHL Winter Showcase

By Whaler Nation, 12/30/16, 10:00AM EST

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The Whalers get set to make their way north to Marlborough, MA for the USPHL Winter Showcase at the New England Sports Center.  Lets take a look at both Whalers squads as they prepare for the leagues biggest showcase event of the season!!!

Elite Preview


#11 Colton Seeman

The Whalers Elite team secured 9 of 10 points in Florida, suffering only an overtime loss to Atlanta, but still lost ground to Charlotte for the top spot in the conference, as the Rush took all 10 points in the sunshine state.  The Whalers sit with a record of 27-3-2, good for 56 points as they sit comfortably in 2nd in the Southern Conference, 16 points ahead of 3rd place Carolina, while trailing the Charlotte Rush by 3 points with 2 games in hand for 1st.  The Whalers offense continues to hum along, producing 190 goals in 32 games this season, led by rookie forward John Moncovich who posted 9 goals last weekend to reach 40 on the campaign and pace the league, while also taking home league offensive player of the week honors.  The Whalers will re-gain two players to the line-up, as John Horn and Andriy Denyskin will be back in action in Beantown, but will be without forward Roman Gaudet who has been called up by the Odessa Jackalopes in the NAHL.

The Whalers will face 4 opponents for the first time this season, with 2 of them, the Detroit Fighting Irish and Rochester Monarchs facing the Whalers for the 1st time in franchise history, while also facing two of the old guards in the North, the Bay State Breakers and P.A.L. Junior Islanders.

In the Detroit Fighting Irish and the Bay State Breakers, the Whalers will face two teams who have ridden the struggle bus all season.  The Breakers come into the showcase winless at 0-26-1 for only 1 point, sitting only above the 0-25-0 Team Beijing in the North standings.  In 27 games, the Breakers have scored only 34 goals, while giving up 159, with a major lack of offense and holes on defense, it’s easy to see why their winless.  The Detroit Fighting Irish haven’t fared much better and have been offered a rude welcome into the Elite division after competing last year in the mid-west of the USP3.  The Fighting Irish sit dead last in the Mid-West Elite division with a record of 3-20-3 good for only 9 points on the campaign.  Much like the Breakers, the goals for vs goals against isn’t pretty, as Detroit has produced 54 goals in 26 games while giving up 121.  Discipline is a major issue for the Irish, as they have amassed 975 penalty minutes this year in 26 games, far and away the most penalized of the 27 Elite teams and their ability to kill those penalties ranks in the bottom 3rd of the league.  The Whalers will face a tougher task with the Rochester Monarchs and P.A.L. Islanders.  The Monarchs come in with a strong record of 19-5-2, good for 40 points and the 3rd position in the Elite North.  Rochester’s offense has helped pace them this season, as they average close to 5 goals per game while surrendering 2.5 per game through 26 contests.  In the P.A.L. Junior Islanders, the Whalers will face a squad who sits in the middle of the pack in the North with a record of 15-9-1 for 31 points on the campaign.  At 77%, the Islanders penalty kill has been an issue all season and the Whalers 3rd ranked power play will look to take advantage. 

USP3 Preview


#2 Tyler Dienna

The Whalers come in off a tough stretch of 8 games in 9 days where they went 4-3-1, securing 9 of 16 possible points as they continue to jockey for playoff positioning in the log jam that is the USP3 Southern Conference.  The boys come into the event with a record of 18-11-0-3, good for 39 points and the 6th seed in the Southern Conference, but sit only 6 points out of 4th with 2 games in hand on Atlanta who took 9 of 10 points in Florida and 2 points back of 5th place Richmond with 4 big match-ups head to head in January.  The Whalers power play saw continued improvement throughout the road swing and now sit 2nd in the league out of 27 teams at 26.1%.  A major area the coaching staff will look to iron out next weekend is the team’s penalty kill, one in which was a top 10 unit all season until a rough Florida showcase saw their ranking drop to 15th at 83.9%.  The Whalers will also look to clean up their defensive play, as the last 3 games saw the Whalers double their opponents in shots on goal, with a 126-70 edge in shots, yet come away with just a 1-1-1 record in those games.

The Whalers will face a tough trio of tests from the Northern Conference in the Jr. Bruins, Jersey Hitmen, and Jersey Shore Whalers, while also facing their Southern foe, the Daytona Racers, for the 1st time in franchise history.

In the North, the Whalers will face the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place teams.  In 2nd, the Jersey Hitmen comes in at 19-6-3 on the season, good for 41 points and looking to avenge a semi-final loss that ended the Hitmen’s season against the Whalers in last year’s final.  The Hitmen have one of the stingiest defensive teams in the league, only allowing 68 goals to date on the season along with the 4th best penalty kill in the league at 88.5%.  In 3rd, the Whalers will face a Jersey Shore Whalers team in which they eliminated in last year’s USP3 championships in the round robin.  The J.S. Whalers come in at 18-8-3 good for 39 points and have always produced a high flying offensive team, and are no different this year, with 129 goals for, tops in the conference.  The 4th seed is the powerhouse Boston Jr. Bruins, who sit at 10-15-1 on the year with 21 points.  The Bruins struggles can be related to both penalties and a lack of offense.  The Bruins are one of the most penalized teams in the league, with 520 minutes in 26 games while only scoring 79 goals, 2nd fewest in the North.  In the South, the Whalers will face the 9th seeded Daytona Racers.  The Racers come in at 6-20-1 on the year with 13 points.  The Whalers will face a Daytona team who has surrendered 134 goals on the year and will face former Whaler Nathan Cleghorn who was traded to the Racers back in early December.

BY THE NUMBERS

USP3 Team Leaders

Record: 18-11-0-3, 39 points (6th)

Goals For: 123

Goals Against: 83

PP: 26.1% (2nd)

PK: 83.9% (14th)

Most Goals: Gary Eastlack (24)

Most Assists: Matthew Hanchon (25)

Most Points: Gary Eastlack (44)

PP Goals: Max Loga, Ryan Lorenz (6)

PP Assists: Matthew Hanchon (11)

Short Handed Goals: Max Loga (4)

Short Handed Assists: Max Loga, Noah Kramer, Adam Campbell, Jonah Lainesse (1)

Game Winning Goals: Gary Eastlack (5)

Penalty Minutes: Max Loga (52)

Wins Everett Yasinski (11)

GAA: Jason Horn (2.46)

Save %: Everett Yasinski (.915%)

Shutouts: Everett Yasinski (2)

Elite Team Leaders

Record: 27-3-1-1, 56 points (2nd)

Goals For: 190

Goals Against: 60

PP: 29.2% (3rd)

PK: 86.2% (5th)

Most Goals: John Moncovich (40)

Most Assists: Brandon Osmundson (43)

Most Points: Brandon Osmundson (61)

PP Goals: John Moncovich (8)

PP Assists: Brandon Osmundson (11)

Short Handed Goals: Colton Seeman (4)

Short Handed Assists: Brandon Osmundson (3)

Game Winning Goals: John Moncovich (7)

Penalty Minutes: Roman Gaudet (100)

Wins Sean Dickson (19)

GAA:  Sean Dickson (1.35)

Save %: Sean Dickson (.927%)

Shutouts: Sean Dickson (8)

Showcase Information

Where: Marlborough, MA

Facility: New England Sports Center (NESC)

When: January 6-8, 2017

How to Watch: HockeyTV

2017 USPHL Winter Showcase Schedule

Friday Jan. 6th

USP3 vs. Boston Jr. Bruins (10-15-1) 9:40am

Elite vs. Rochester Monarchs (19-5-2) 1:20pm

Elite vs. Detroit Fighting Irish (3-20-3) 8:40pm

Saturday Jan. 7th

USP3 vs. Jersey Hitmen (19-6-3) 8:20am

Elite vs. Bay State Breakers (0-26-1) 1:50pm

USP3 vs. Jersey Shore Whalers (18-8-3) 3:40pm

Sunday Jan. 8th

USP3 vs. Daytona Racers (6-20-1) 5:10pm

Elite vs. P.A.L. Islanders (15-9-1) 5:30pm