There will be 34 games taking place from Monday to Thursday, and for a few teams, it will be their last set of games prior to the Christmas and New Year break.
The Newington Showcase also represents the halfway point of the season; here are some first-half observations around the league and a look ahead to this week’s showcase in the Nutmeg State.
Beasts of the East
Throughout the first half of the season, the East Division is looking like the strongest division in the EHL. It starts with the defending champions in the Boston Jr. Rangers, of course; they are having another strong season with a 18-6-0 record while being led by veterans like Tay Melis, Kaleb Miller, and Bret Beale. They will face Providence Hockey Club on Tuesday, the New Hampshire Avalanche on Wednesday, and the Vermont Lumberjacks on Thursday.
While the defending champions are in first, all eyes will be on the East Coast Wizards and Express Hockey Club, who are both red-hot coming into the showcase. The Wizards are in second place with a 16-4-3 record, and are 7-0-1 in their last eight games. Will Rice, Casey Raffone and George Kolovos have already hit double digits in goals as the Wizards have the second-best offense in the league with 95 goals scored. They will also face the Avalanche and Lumberjacks this week, along with H.C. Rhode Island.
The Express have won six straight games, and while they are four points behind the Jr. Rangers, they have four games in hand. Cody Walker (14g, 15a) and Gavin Simopoulos (9g, 18a) are leading the way offensively, and the team has had exceptional goaltending from Josh Girard, Alex Koenig, and Phillip De Champlain. They all have won at least four games each while rocking save percentages at .923 or higher. They will face Team Maryland, the New Jersey Bears, and the New England Wolves this week, so extending their winning streak will be no easy feat.
Competition in the Central
Right now, the Railers Jr. Hockey Club have the highest point percentage in the league at .848 as they sit atop of the Central Division with a 19-3-1 record. Jack Wineman and Connor McAleer have already broken the 30-point plateau, while defenseman Corbin Melie has 21 points in 23 games. Adam Casper (8-1-0) and Aaron Matthews (11-1-0) have been lights-out in net too as the Railers sport the second-highest goal differential in the EHL at +44.
What’s different this year, however, is that the Central has some stronger competition this time around. New York Apple Core is having a resurgence of a season under second-year head coach Lenny Caglianone, where they have a 14-8-1 record at the halfway point of the season. Nick Sweet and Gleb Ushakov lead the scoring, though scoring is fairly spread out for the team this year. Peter Dunckel has eight of those 14 wins for Apple Core, and they recently traded for the Connecticut Chiefs’ goaltender Ryan Crowshaw, who is rocking a .926 save percentage while making the second-most saves of any netminder in the EHL.
H.C. Rhode Island, Providence Hockey Club and the Chiefs are all near .500, and each of the top five teams in the Central Division will enter the Newington Showcase with a two-game winning streak.
Packed South yet again
If you want an idea of how tight the South Division is, the gap between 2nd and 6th place is only nine points. While Team Maryland sits last in the division, they have a 9-10-2 record with a .476 points percentage, the highest of any last-place team in the league.
The New Jersey Bears (19-5-1) have a 10-point lead over the second-place New Jersey 87’s, but the Bears have dropped their last three games which could give the other teams an opportunity to close the gap. Then again, the Bears still have the most dominant goalie in the league in Carson Frye, who will likely get the marquee matchup against the Express on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.
Also keep an eye on the Pennsylvania Huntsmen this week; the team is having a strong first year in the EHL so far with a 13-11-2 record and have won two of their last three games, including a 5-3 victory over the first-place Bears. Their first matchup will be against the Railers, and a win could put the Huntsmen in a good position to leap-frog into second place in the South.
Three is company in the North
The first three spots in the North Division are separated by only five points. The New Hampshire Avalanche, the runner-up in two of the last three Frozen Finals, have overcome a slow start to the season and sit in first place with a 15-5-2 record. They already have 11 players with 10 or more points with veterans Rory Andriole and Aaron Racino leading the way offensively. Sam Boos has been terrific in net with an 8-1-1 record, a 1.92 goals against average and two shutouts. They arguably have the toughest schedule in Newington, going up against the Wizards, Jr. Rangers and the 87’s this week.
Right behind them are the New England Wolves and Seacoast Spartans. The Wolves have a high-octane offense with 91 goals scored so far, third-best in the league. While the Spartans have 22 fewer goals, their top scorers match the Wolves’ top scorers. Right now, the top four scorers are with the Wolves—A.J. Lackas (38 points) and Mathias Johansen (37 points)—and the Spartans with David Basin (38 points) and Jonathan Groth (35 points).
The showcase will open up on Monday at 11:10 a.m. as the Wizards will take on HC Rhode Island, and the final game will take place on Thursday at 3:20 p.m. as the Wolves will face the Express. All 34 games will be available on FloHockey.
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 four seasons with the New Jersey 87's organization. Anthony's familiarity with the junior hockey landscape at the Tier II and Tier III levels provide him with a wealth of knowledge in covering our league showcases and events. In addition to writing features and player spotlights throughout the season, Anthony is a fixture on the weekly #EShow podcast.
