The New England Wolves came out of New Hampshire with the best record in the EHL (8-1-1) and a three-point lead in the North Division. On Sunday they managed to take down the Boston Jr. Rangers with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory. Coming into the second half trailing 2-1, Matyas Budina scored his second goal of the game, and Heath Mensch gave New England the lead 26 seconds later.

Following up their win against the 2021 champs, the Wolves defeated the Seahawks Hockey Club by a score of 3-1, getting goals from Sander Cramer, Samuel Westerberg and Mensch. New England has now won six of its last seven games, and remains one of the hottest teams in the league.

It’s a tight race in the East Division, and the Express Hockey Club sits in first place following their 2-0 weekend.

The team’s offense broke through with five goals in each game, earning a 5-2 win over the Railers and a 5-1 victory over the Valley Jr. Warriors. Addam Brunner scored three goals over the weekend, with two of them coming from Sunday’s win over the Railers. Jack Boschert picked up the win on Sunday, stopping 35 of the 37 shots he faced. Brady Klemmensen also finished the weekend with three points, including two goals against the Warriors.

Vermont may be third in the North Division, but they are also tied with the Seahawks for fewest games played. They have also made the most of those games by winning two in New Hampshire.

Things were off to a slow start for the Lumberjacks on Sunday when the Warriors jumped to a 3-2 lead in the first half. Vermont responded by scoring three goals in the final half, including two from Victor Daigneault for a 5-3 victory. The veteran forward scored two more goals on Monday as the Lumberjacks prevailed in a 5-4 battle against the Seacoast Spartans. Louis-Joseph Guernon picked up four points (1g, 3a) over the weekend while Jackson Collins had five assists.

Meanwhile in New Jersey, the Protec Jr. Ducks had the best showing of any South Division team by going 2-0 and are now first in the South Division.

Kicking off the mini showcase on Friday, the Jr. Ducks faced the Philadelphia Little Flyers and won by a score of 4-2. Jacob Gates had a pair of goals, including the game-winning tally where he toe-dragged around a defender off the face-off and ripped a shot upstairs. Gates would also score the game-winning goal in Protec’s 3-0 win over Team Maryland on Saturday. Goaltender Alexis Giroux won both games for the Ducks and earned a 32-save shutout against Maryland.

The Connecticut Chiefs turned some heads in the Worcester showcase with their hot start, and now their performance in Hooksett showed it could be much more than that.

Connecticut went up against the hosting New Hampshire Avalanche on Sunday and came out on top with a 2-0 win. Adam Yost made 28 saves for the shutout, while Ethan Lim and Luke Holyfield scored the Chiefs’ goals.

On Monday the Chiefs faced another strong team in the Boston Jr. Rangers, and overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to force the game into overtime. Boston took the extra point with an overtime goal from Will Halecki, but the Chiefs have won four of their last five games and are on a seven-game point streak. With a 7-1-2 record, the Chiefs have an eight-point lead in the Central Division and are the only team with a positive goal differential. 

Anthony Di Paolo

Anthony Di Paolo covers the EHL for HNIB and can be followed on Twitter @DiPaolo_016

Anthony Di Paolo has spent the last five seasons with the New Jersey 87's organization. Anthony's familiarity with the junior hockey landscape at the Tier II and Tier III levels will help him dive right into covering the EHL. 

Anthony will cover our league showcases and events, as well as write weekly features and player spotlights throughout the 2022-23 season.

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