FALL League Championship Event Begins Next Week
The FALL League Championship event will be held next weekend at the Super Rink in Blaine, MN from October 11th - 13th. During this event, the NAPHL will crown Champions at the 18U and 16U levels with each team playing three round-robin games to determine three bracket winners and one wild card team who will move onto the semi-finals.
The first two FALL League events have been nothing short of exciting as the first through fourth place teams all sit within three points of one another in the standings. The Austin Bruins reside in first place with 21 points, an almost perfect record of 7-1-0-0. Leading not only the Bruins but the 18U bracket in points, Maguire DeWees has been an offensive machine with a whopping 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) in eight games. The Lakeville, MN native averages over two points per game and has helped his squad on special teams with one power play goal and three power play assists.
Following right behind are the Odessa Jackalopes having 20 points with an identical record of 7-1-0-0, just one point short in the standings as a result of an overtime win. The star for the Jacks has been netminder Owen Debbert who sits atop the goaltender standings in the goals against average and save percentage categories. Debbert, who hails from Neenah, WI, has been faced with 108 shots, making 102 saves for a GAA of 1.449 and a save percentage of .944.
Tied for third place with 19 points are the Fairbanks Ice Dogs and Minnesota Mallards. The Ice Dogs had a great second event, extending their win streak to five with wins over the Wisconsin Windigo, St. Cloud Norsemen, Austin Bruins and Chippewa Steel, the first loss of the year for Austin. Stillwater, MN native Matthew Volkman has been the unsung hero for Fairbanks tallying 15 points (10 goals, 5 assists), including two game winning goals, two power play goals and one shorthanded goal.
Switching over to the Mallards, the squad from Minnesota went 3-1 during the second event, their only loss coming at the hands of the Chippewa Steel. When looking at the Mallards’ roster, four players have recorded a point per game or more with Nicholas Russ leading not only his team but the league in goals scored with 13 goals in 8 games, including four game winners, two power play goals and one shorthanded goal.
Past 18U FALL League Champions:
2023 - Fairbanks Ice Dogs
2022 - Chippewa Steel
2021 - Fairbanks Ice Dogs
2020 - MHA Mudbugs
The New Hampshire Mountain Kings have been the squad to beat at the 16U level with only one loss to date as the first place team in the standings with 21 points. Forward Nash Paine has been on an absolute offensive tear with 18 points (13 goals, 5 assists) in six games. With these 18 points, Paine is the leading scorer for all 16U players, five points ahead of the second place participant and averages three points per game. His best game of the season came on September 14th as the ‘09 forward recorded five goals and tallied two assists against the Minnesota Walleye Prospects.
Moving down to second place in the standings sits the Janesville Jets with a 6-1-0-1 record for 19 points. The Jets have been able to pull from their depth scoring as all players on their roster have registered at least one point on the season. After going 2-2 at the first FALL event, Janesville has been able to regroup winning five straight games, including a close one-goal game with the St. Cloud Norsemen where the Jets came away with a 4-3 victory thanks to defenseman Marcus Allen.
Just one point behind Janesville sits the Fairbanks Ice Dogs with a record of 6-1-1-0. Three players have tallied a point per game, including Farmington, MN native Collin Hennes. The ‘09 forward has been the most consistent player in terms of finding the back of the net with seven goals, two being the deciding factor for the Ice Dogs and two more coming on special teams. Between the pipes, goaltender Anthony Radke has appeared in 8 games, the most of any goaltender in the league. Throughout the season Radke has maintained a goals against average of .904 while facing 126 shots.
Rounding out the top four sits the Kenai River Brown Bears with a record of 6-3-0-0 for a total of 17 points. Similar to Janesville, all players on the Brown Bears roster have registered at least one point, including seven players with three goals or more. Bemidji, MN native Quinn Niemi has been one of the more prominent members of his team scoring four goals and tallying four assists, scoring goals in three consecutive games.
Past 16U FALL League Champions:
2023 - Wisconsin Windigo
2022 - St. Cloud Norsemen
2021 - Southern Minnesota Bears
2020 - MHA Mudbugs
