USPHL Premier Players Of The Week: Northeast Region

Week of Jan. 15, 2025

Games of Jan. 7-13, 2025

Canada Division 

Forward: Wilhem Lajeunesse, Somang L-L Hockey

Lajeunesse (‘04/Grand-Remous, Que.) registered a hat trick in his fourth game out of five played so far. He has a 4-3-7 line in five games so far. He is a three-year junior veteran coming out of the QJHL. 

 

Defense: Emile Urbain, Somang L-L Hockey

A two-year Premier veteran, Urbain (‘04/St-Therese, Que.) dished out three assists – including on one of Wilhem Lajeunesse’s hat trick goals – to defeat Universel Sherbrooke on Jan. 9. 

 

Goaltender: Austin Neill, Kingston Wranglers

Although it ended up as a loss in the end, the Wranglers’ Dec. 10 game against the Boston Junior Bruins was a spotlight for Kingston’s new goaltender Neill (‘06/Las Vegas, Nev.) He recently joined out of the EHL Premier and stopped 54 of 57 shots in his USPHL debut against the Junior Bruins. 

 

New England Division 

Forward: Jack Roberts, Islanders Hockey Club

The USPHL Premier New England/Atlantic All-Star selection Roberts (‘04/Middlefield, Conn.) registered two goals and tacked on four more assists for six points in two games. In doing so, he improved his career points per game average to 1.07 with a 41-70-111 line over 104 games, all with IHC. 

 

Defense: Hamilton Nordwind, Islanders Hockey Club 

Nordwind (‘06/Washington, D.C.) enjoyed a very productive two-game stand last week with a 2-2-4 line for the IHC in two games on Jan. 9-10. Nordwind, who has been up for two NCDC games with the IHC’s top team and registered an assist there, has 17 points in 25 games this season. 

 

Goaltender: Matthew Dore, South Shore Kings 

Dore, another USPHL Premier All-Star selection, registered a 41-save shutout to defeat the Springfield Pics and improve to a five-game winning streak and a 14-1-1-0 record overall. 

 

Atlantic Division 

Forward: Ilya Kornoushenko, Red Bank Generals

Kournoushenko (‘05/Tomsk, Russia) has been on a tear recently, posting 19 points in his last six games. He recently put up four goals and eight assists for 12 points in just three contests between Jan. 9-12, including two five-point games in that stretch. With this recent outburst, he now has 59 points in 28 games. 

 

Defense: Brandon Jung, Elmira Impact

Jung (‘04/Ann Arbor, Mich.) was very charitable to his teammates, putting up six assists in the Impact’s two games played in New Jersey on Jan. 12 and 13. The USPHL Premier All-Star selection has registered 34 points in 32 games so far this year, improving more than three times on his 2023-24 points total of eight. 

 

Goaltender: Avery Hite, P.A.L. Jr. Islanders 

Hite (‘04/Maryville, Tenn.) registered a big 34-save win in stopping all but one of 35 shots he faced from the Brooklyn Aviators on Jan. 11.  He is in his second year with P.A.L. after splitting last season between the Jr. Isles and the Maine Nordiques AAA program.

Selection Process: Divisional statistical leaders are presented to coaches, who are able to vote on the leaders, or nominate and vote on alternate candidates.

Summaries by Joshua Boyd