USPHL Premier 2023-24 Midwest East Division Players Of The Month: January 2024

Selection Process: The league media office sends top statistical candidates to divisional coaches for review and coaches either approve or challenge the nominations. 

Summaries by Joshua Boyd / USPHLPremier.com 

Forward: Alexis Toussaint, Fort Wayne Spacemen

Toussaint (‘04/Varennes, Que.) has been the leading scorer for the Spacemen pretty much wire to wire this year, and he has nearly 30 points more than his closest teammate. He put up five goals and 12 assists for 17 points in 10 games during the month of January. That helped him to improve to 28 goals and 63 points in 36 games. In the faceoff circle last month, he won 87 out of 140 draws for a 62 percent success rate. 

Forward: Caden Day, Chicago Crush

Day (‘05/Batavia, Ill.) was a great local find for the Crush, as he came to the Chicago program out of the West Dundee Leafs Midget program. This year, he has registered a team-leading 43 points in 33 games, giving him nearly 20 points more than the closest teammate. Day popped in six goals and added eight assists for 14 points in eight games in January. He has carried a 12-game point streak into February, posting a 10-14-24 line over that time. He also led the Crush in both plus-minus (+6) and hits (18) in January. 

Forward: Gerdas Paulauskas, Chicago Cougars

Paulauskas (‘04/Lisle, Ill.) was a great goal-scorer all month for the Cougars, putting up eight and adding four assists for 12 points in 11 games in January. Two of the eight goals account for his two GWG’s this season (two of 10 in his three-year career). He is second in Cougars scoring with 34 points in 34 games this year, and he is fourth on the Cougars’ all-time list with 116 points in 113 games. 

Defense: Ludovick Janvier, Fort Wayne Spacemen

A teammate of Toussaint’s at Ulysse Prep in Quebec, Janvier (‘05/Repentigny, Que.) has been a boon to the Spacemen defense this year and especially in January. He not only put up three goals and eight assists for 11 points (an average of 1.2 points per game), but he also co-led the Spacemen in plus-minus at +9. For the season, Janvier – who joined the Spacemen from the CCHL in November – has 16 points in 14 games. He finished January with a streak of six points over his last four games. 

Defense: Fisher Moore, Fort Wayne Spacemen

Moore (‘03/Cadillac, Mich.) is experiencing a fantastic second season with the Spacemen, in hopes of returning his team to the USPHL Nationals where they had a good run, eventually reaching the quarterfinals. Moore put up a 2-6-8 line during the month of January, and was often paired up with fellow Defenseman of the Month Ludovick Janvier. He led the Spacemen in average ice time at 18:16 per game, and his eight blocked shots were second on the Spacemen D corps. He’s almost doubled his 2022-23 point total by registering 34 points this year, after posting 18 last season. 

Goaltender: Robert Allport, Motor City Gamblers 

Allport (‘03/Fitchburg, Wis.) returned via trade to the Gamblers, with whom he played for the full 2022-23 season, during the month of December. He gave his team a strong four wins during his first full month of games with the Gamblers. He stopped 88 of 93 shots over 206 minutes of action for a .946 save percentage and a 1.46 goals against average. This is Allport’s second Goaltender Of The Month honor this season, winning the Northwest Division GOTM honor in October while with Casper. For his two-year Premier career, Allport is at 20-10-2-2 with a 2.88 GAA and a .911 save percentage.