NAPHL playoffs have plenty of surprises on Selection Saturday
The 2023 T1ER Dixon Cup Championship in addition to the 2023 SHOW American Division Championship both continued on Saturday, February 18th in suburban Detroit, Michigan.
Saturday was full of high drama. At the T1ER level, the Semi-Finals and consolation games were decided with plenty of surprises.
The event is taking place at four different facilities in suburban Detroit, Michigan from February 17-20, 2023. Games will take place at Buffalo Wild Wings Arena, and Suburban Ice in Rochester, Royal Oak, and Macomb.
The 16U and 18U T1ER Playoffs for the Dixon Cup will be broken into a ‘Gold’ (Championship) and ‘Silver’ (Consolation) format like what has been used in years past. Due to the fact the season is an unbalanced schedule, teams were ranked (1-18) based on the new NAPHL Power Rankings. The NAPHL Power Rankings were developed using several important and statistical criteria. These rankings were used to determine the top 12 teams to participate in the Gold Division and the bottom 6 teams to participate in the Silver Division.
The Gold Division will play three Round Robin Games within their Bracket. Followed by consolation, Semi-Finals, and Finals. The Silver Division will play three Round Robin Games across the other bracket followed by fourth game determined by Round-Robin Standings for a Silver Championship or Consolation games.
All games will be broadcast live on HockeyTV
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Arenas (Troy - Rochester - Macomb - Royal Oak)
Day 2 recaps
18U T1ER: In the early games for the 18U, the Philadelphia Little Flyers improved to 2-0 this weekend with a 5-2 win over Team Alaska. Five different players found the back of the net while Michael Manzi made 23 saves. CarShield AAA also improved to 2-0 in their pool as they dominated the Tri State Spartans 7-1. Talen Garcia had two goals and three assists while Brenden Korte and JP Piwowarczyk each potted a pair of goals as well. Then it was Omaha pulling off a come-from-behind victory over the Esmark Stars. They trailed 3-0 after the first period of play before walking off with a 5-4 overtime win after Ty James scored the game winning goal. Trace Day scored twice and Braxton Castagno made 17 saves as the Maine Nordiques blanked the Northwest Stars 5-0. Anthony Alvarado scored four times in Biggby Coffee’s 7-1 win over the Philadelphia Hockey Club as they improved to 2-0 in pool play. To round out the early games, New Jersey got two goals from Arhip Sidarovich as they beat the Colorado Springs Tigers 5-1 as they got to 2-0 on the weekend. In the late games, New Jersey punched their ticket to the semifinals as they came back to defeat Esmark 5-3 after trailing 3-0 in the first period. Arhip Sidarovich registered a hat trick which included the game winning goal. Tri State finished the pool play portion of their weekend with a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Hockey Club. Vladimir Saibel potted tow goals for the Spartans. Then in a back-and-forth affair, the Maine Nordiques outlasted the Philadelphia Little Flyers, winning 6-4 and clinching their spot in the semifinals. Trace Day once again scored twice for Maine while Grant Dietz also potted a pair of goals. Team Alaska closed out their pool play schedule with a 2-1 overtime win over the Northwest Stars. Gavin Langham netted the game winner while Josh Serino scored with just 1:46 left in regulation to tie the game. Brendan Zupsansky’s second goal of the game was the difference as it came at the 2:47 mark of overtime to put Biggby Coffee AAA into the semifinals. Despite the defeat, CarShield AAA also advances to the semifinals as the wild card winner. In the consolation side of things, the Indy Jr. Fuel got a goal from Drew Spaulding in the fifth round of the shootout to give them the victory over New Hampshire 2-1. Then Zachary Pilkinton scored the only goal in the shootout as Vegas topped Ontario by a score of 4-3. Finally Ethan Christofferson scored two goals and finished with three points as the Madison Capitols dropped the Northeast Generals 7-3. The Northeast Generals beat the Ontario Jr. Reign by a score of 5-2 as Kameron Young led the way with a goal and an assist. New Hampshire downed Vegas 4-1 as Ryan Dann, Jonathan Yarbrough and Carter Amidon all had a goal and an assist in the win. Carter Walby grabbed a goal and two helpers to lead the Madison Capitols to a 4-2 win over the Indy Jr. Fuel.
16U T1ER: In a wild eleven round shootout the Esmark Stars scored three times and came out on top 3-2 in their matchup against the New Jersey Jr. Titans. Jacob Stock got Esmark on the board in the 1st and Timur Naletov scored the 2nd regulation goal for the Stars. The Ontario Jr. Reign defeated the Northeast Generals 5-2 in their 3rd matchup of the weekend. Matthew Lyon made 26 saves, Calvin Ruggiero contributed a pair goals in the victory while Paul Eisan also tallied a goal and two assists. The Northwest Stars and Maine Nordiques provided an intense defensive bout that led to a 1-0 shootout victory in favor of Northwest. Ethan Gobel and Braeden Derouen succeeded in the shootout for the Stars to lead them to victory while their netminder Daniel Peebles kept out 27 shots in regulation and all but one of 5 shootout attempts faced. The New Hampshire Avalanche had an outpour of 45 shots against Omaha Mastery and took them down 4-0. Griffin Halecki, Jake Tash, Connor Johnson, and Brian Baumgardner were the goalscorers for New Hampshire while their goalie Wyatt Demers kept out all 26 shots faced in the shutout. The Philadelphia Little Flyers edged past the Colorado Springs Tigers 3-2. Gabe Bedwell and Grayson Esposito tickled twine for the Flyers while Ethan McKay scored the eventual game winner for them in the 2nd period.CarShield AAA secured their place in the Dixon Cup semifinals after defeating the Madison Capitols 3-1. Their netminder Levi Niedert kept out all but one of 20 shots faced while their offense was provided by Brandon Catalano, Bradley Oddman, and Lucas Daleo. Quinn Steffen and Brandon Cabral both posted a goal and an assist to help lift the Vegas Jr. Golden Knights past Team Alaska 3-2. Carter Adams also lit the lamp for Vegas while Kyle Adrian kept out 20 shots in the win. Despite being outshot 34-24, the Indy Jr. Fuel beat the Tri State Spartans 3-1. Sam Burcal was the backstop for the Fuel making 33 saves on 34 shots while their goals came from Trevor Young, Roman Gralak, and Filippas Pliastos. Biggby Coffee AAA solidified their place in the Dixon Cup semifinals after shutting out Philadelphia Hockey Club 2-0. Andrew Klei made 20 saves in the shutout while Collin Barber and Cole Hutchinson provided the goals, Hutchinson tallying an assist in the contest as well.
15U T1ER: The Arizona Bobcats claimed the #1 seed in the 15U Division thanks to two more wins on Saturday as they beat the Philadelphia Hockey Club, 6-0 and then the Philadelphia Little Flyers, 4-3. Zayne Maragh scored two goals in each of the wins. The Valley Forge Minutemen would claim the #2 seed, also with a 3-0 record as they picked up a 3-2 win over Esmark and a 3-1 win over Biggby. Alex Small scored the game-winning goal in both of the wins. Securing the #3 seed was the New Jersey Jr. Titans, who came up with two wins on Saturday as they beat Ontario, 10-0 and CarShield, 4-1. James Lucosky had three goals and Ryan Tartaglione had five points in the two wins. Securing the #4 seed for the last semi-final spot was Esmark. Despite a 3-2 loss in the morning to Valley Forge, the Stars got some revenge in the eveing with a 8-2 win over Vegas. Eight different players scored for the Stars in the win and Tyler Haley made 23 saves. CarShield AAA finished in 6th place with a 2-1 record, which included a 5-0 shutout in the morning of the Little Flyers as Andrew Bely made 18 saves in the shutout. Biggby also finished 2-1 in the pool, which included a 2-0 shutout of the Northwest Stars in the morning as Luke Connolly made 26 saves. Vegas picked up their lone win of round-robin play with a 7-1 win over Colorado Springs in the morning as Yuchan Chen had two goals and two assists in the win.
14U T1ER: The Esmark Stars punched their ticket to the Semi-Finals with a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over the Tri State Spartans. Mikhail Trofimov had two goals, including the overtime-winner and an assist in the win and Stars goalie Nikita Oleksiienko made 43 saves in the win. In the second game, CarShield cruised to a 6-1 win over the Northwest Stars to post a perfect 3-0 record in the round-robin. Ryan Hogan had two goals in the win. In the third game, the Indy Jr. Fuel clinched the #1 overall seed for the Semi-Finals as they finished the round-robin with a perfect 3-0 record with a 5-0 shutout of Biggby Coffee. Evan Swann had a goal and an assist and Brody Rosswurm made 11 saves in the shutout win. In the final game, the Arizona Bobcats clinched the 4th and final Semi-Final spot thanks to a 3-2 overtime win over the Ontario Jr. Reign. Enzo Gisler’s 2nd goal of the weekend was the overtime-winner
18U SHOW: Denver East HIgh School added two goals in the second frame to end up with a 5-1 win over the Lincoln Stars. Matt Smith recorded a hat-trick and goaltender Jacob Smithburger allowed one goal off of 22 shots. St. Viator kept the Tri State Spartans off the scoresheet in a 8-0 final. Dylan Harer scored twice and Angelo Massaro dished out three helpers in the win. Goaltender Dominic Grimaldi picked up the shutout win. A strong first period sent the Texas Jr. Brahmas ahead of the Weber Mustangs, 4-2. Avinash Kandadi handed out two assists and goaltender Preston Farr stopped 27 shots. The Portland Winterhawks topped the Dallas Penguins, 4-2. Goaltender Nicholas Ulyanov turned away 24 of the 26 shots he faced. Golden State Elite took a 3-0 lead after the first and never looked back to take a 7-1 win over Monument Hockey Academy. Roman Faz added two goals and dished out an assist and goalie Solaiman Zinger got the win in net. Pacific Ridge Hockey Club shutout the New Mexico Ice Wolves in a 8-0 final. David Han recorded 5 points with 4 goals and an assist. Goaltender Spencer Lyon got the shutout in net. The New Jersey Jr. Titans added a third period game winning goal for a 2-1 final against the Pilot Mound Buffaloes. Preston Jones netted both New Jersey goals and goaltender Nick Gould played great stopping 21 of 22 shots. Denver East High School shutout the Clearwater Ice Storm, 3-0. Goaltender Sameul Cozart got the shutout win after turning away 9 shots.
16U SHOW: The Weber Mustangs netted two goals in the third period to take a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning. Keegan Clark helped in two goals and goaltender Yair Perez stopped 25 of 27 shots. St. Viator topped the Texas Jr. Brahmas in a 3-1 contest. Jiyong Hong handed out two assists. Pilot Mound Hockey Academy added two goals in the second and third for a 4-1 victory against the Clearwater Ice Storm. Sam Takahashi added two goals while netminder Quinn Burfoot stopped 22 shots. The Texas Warriors blanked the Monument Hockey Academy, 3-0. Yehor Chyzhevskyi scored twice and goaltender Aden Ziorgiannis earned the shutout. The SISU Thunderbirds dominated the Rose City Pats, 7-3. Ian Watts added two goals while goaltender Kolter Leroy got the win in net. The New Mexico Jr. Ice Wolves netted a late third period goal to solidify a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Jr. Titans. Trevor Runck had a 3 point game and goalie Luke Remec stopped 11 shots. The Tampa Crunch had a one goal lead until adding two goals in the third for a 6-3 victory over the Vegas Jr. Golden Knights. Evan Kouzenetsov had a 3 point game and goaltender EJ Koltula got the win. The Rose City Pats outplayed the Park City Ice Miners in a 7-2 game. Joe Lawerence had an impressive game combining for 5 points and netminder Eric Vargas was near perfect stopping 28 of 30 tries.
