BOSTON, MA -- It's rest and recharge time right now in the Eastern Hockey League (EHL) and the Eastern Hockey League Premier (EHLP), as all of our teams are officially on winter break.
Below you'll find the 13th set of weekly top performers in the #EShow. The forward and defenseman awards are presented by Verbero Hockey, while the goalie honors come courtesy of Vaughn Custom Sports.
The EHL is pleased to announce that Donnie Feldman (New England Wolves), Jack Johansen (East Coast Wizards), and Mason Palmer (Walpole Express) have been named the Top Performers for Week #13.
Feldman and the Wolves split their final two games of the 2020 calendar year, losing to the New Hampshire Avalanche by the score of 7-6 on Wednesday, and then knocking off the Seacoast Spartans 6-5 on Friday. The 2000-born native of Highland Falls, NY led the way on offense for his team, collecting a pair of assists on Wednesday, and then notching his first hat-trick of the season on Friday. For the year, Feldman now has 27 points through 20 total games, and is playing the role of captain very well for his team.
Since joining the Wolves in early February, Feldman is averaging over a point per game throughout his time in the EHL, with 33 total points in 27 career games. Looking forward, Feldman and the Wolves will return from the holiday break with a matchup scheduled against the Vermont Lumberjacks on Saturday, January 9th.
Johansen and Wizards posted a record of 2-1-1 in their final four games of the first half. The 2000-born native of Billerica, MA led the way offensively for his team, tallying five total points throughout the week. With the strong offensive output, Johansen now has 18 points through 24 total games to date, which puts him on a great pace to surpass his 2019-20 totals, shortly after play resumes in January.
This past season, Johansen notched 26 points in 45 total games, including a trio of points in the postseason. The Wizards' captain is undoubtedly a key cog on this year's team, and he'll be leaned on heavily in the 2nd half, as the team tries to improve on their seeding for the upcoming playoffs.
Speaking of improving over the course of the year, Palmer and the Express may be the best example of this so far this season. After starting off the year with a record of 0-4-1 in their first five games, Walpole went on to post a mark of 17-3-0 in their next 20 contests, leading up to the holiday break. Included in that stretch were a trio of victories from this past week, two of which were earned by Palmer.
Palmer made 27 saves in his team's 5-1 victory over the Railers Jr Hockey Club on Tuesday, and then turned aside an additional 34 shots in the 2-1 win over the Wizards on Saturday. Tack on 15 more saves in relief on Friday and Palmer's overall numbers put him towards the top of the league for almost all the goaltending statistical categories. Palmer owns a record of 10-1-0 through 11 total starts, to go along with a 2.21 GAA, a .934 save percentage, and two shutouts.
The EHLP is pleased to announce that Mikus Krumpans (New England Wolves), Alarico Valentini (New England Wolves), Sal Caruso (Railers Jr Hockey Club) have been named the Top Performers for Week #13.
Krumpans, Valentini, and the Wolves split their home-and-home series with the New Hampshire Avalanche. The notable victory on Tuesday wasn't just the Wolves first win of the season over the Avalanche, but it was also the first loss suffered by their in-state rival. The victory snapped the 12-game winning streak that the Avalanche came rolling out of the gate with this season.
As for Krumpans, the '04 native of Latvia almost factored in on every goal in his team's 6-3 victory on Tuesday, scoring a goal and collecting four assists along the way. The four-point outing gives Krumpans 12 total points through seven games to date. At 16 years old, Krumpans may be one of the youngest players in the EHLP, but he's already proving that has the talent to hang at the junior level.
Speaking of youth, Valentini will be turning 19 in January, but he's already played in 44 career games in the EHLP. After joining the Wolves for their EHLP Championship run back in the 2018-19 season, the '02 posted eight total points throughout his first full campaign this past year (2019-20).
Fast-forward to this current season, and Valentini has already set new career highs for both goals and assists with four tallies and 10 helpers to date. As for this past week against the Avalanche, Valentini four of his 14 total points in the two-game set.
Wrapping things up with another '02 between the pipes, Caruso and the Railers swept their three-game weekend series against the Walpole Express. The netminder picked up two of the three victories while turning aside 61 of the 63 combined shots that were sent his way on Saturday and Sunday.
The pair of victories improved Caruso's record up to 5-1-0 for the season, and served as a nice piece of revenge for the loss that the Express handed him back on October 18th. At the end of the weekend Caruso also saw his GAA lower down to 2.05 and his save percentage increase up to .931.