USPHL Premier Players Of The Week: Midwest Region

Midwest East Division 

Forward: Noah Maine, Fort Wayne Spacemen

An impressive, six-point weekend helped the ’02 Knoxville, Tenn., product take the lead in the Midwest East goals race. Maine scored two goals and an assist in Fort Wayne’s Friday loss to the Toledo Cherokee, as well as a hat trick in a 7-5 victory against the same club on Saturday.

His 15 goals are the most in the division, as are his 31 points (15-16–31) through 14 games. Maine is averaging 2.21 points per game in his first season as a centerman. He also led the Spacemen in points as a defenseman in 2021-22.

Defense: Aidan Canady, Motor City Gamblers

Another nice weekend for the October Player of the Month honoree (an honor shared by his two other fellow Midwest East Players of the Week this week). Canady recorded three goals and two assists over two games in Motor City’s weekend trip to Decatur, both of which resulted in Gambler victories. The blueliner from Schaumburg, Ill., has been Motor City’s offensive MVP so far this season.

Canady leads all Midwest East skaters in assists with 18, and his 25 points (7-18–25) are fifth-most among all Premier defensemen.

Goaltender: Taylor White, Metro Jets Development Program

White improved to 5-0 as a starter this season in MJDP’s shootout victory over the Chicago Cougars on Saturday. He stopped 39 of 40 shots faced over the course of regulation and overtime, as well as three Cougar shootout attempts in the win. The Bay City, Mich., native leads all qualified Premier netminders in save percentage with a .962 figure. His consistent excellence has helped MJDP stay atop the Midwest East standings for over a month straight.

Great Lakes Division 

Forward: Andreas Fleutot, Metro Jets 

The second-year forward for the Jets had a great weekend and helped add to Metro’s success. Over the weekend, he had six goals and three assists in two games. Two of those goals came in Friday night’s decisive win over Battle Creek. Fleutot’s other four goals came in Saturday night’s win against Cincinnati. Fleutot (’02/France) is currently leading the Metro Jets’ roster in points with 24.

Defense: Ryan Stanley, Toledo Cherokee

Defenseman Ryan Stanley had a great showing last week, continuing to make plays not only on the defensive end but also offensively with four assists in two games. In a 7-3 win against the Fort Wayne Spacemen, Stanley contributed to three of those goals, setting up his teammates for success.

His fourth assist of the weekend came in a 7-5 loss against the Spacemen the following day. Stanley (’02/Trenton, Mich.) now has 18 points in 13 games, leading all defenseman in points for Toledo.

Goalie: Brenden Cobb, Columbus Mavericks

Brenden Cobb showed what he can do for the Mavericks in the 6-1 win against Buffalo on Saturday. Being new to the roster having previously played for Wooster, Cobb is showing his team that he is a reliable guy to have in the net. On Saturday night’s game he had 25 saves on 26 shots with a .962 save percentage.

Midwest West Division 

Forward: Tobias Skogstad-Falkeid, Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings

The Riverkings were engaged in another tough weekend series and for the second time ended a long winning streak for their opponent. The team limited the high-flying Squatch to just four goals on Friday but that proved enough for a 4-2 win. The following night, though, the host Riverkings found themselves trailing 1-0 after 20 but scored four times in the middle period to take control. Skogstad-Falkeid (‘02/Honefoss, Norway) scored to put Riverkings up 2-1 and added two more in the final two minutes of the period to lead the Kings to a 4-3 lead heading to the final period. The three-goal game gives Skogstad-Falkeid nine goals and 14 points on the season so far.

Defense: Andrei Moskvitin, Steele County Blades

To get a read on just how important Moskvitin (‘05/Tomsk, Russia) is to the Blades all you need to do is watch a game on HockeyTV. The 6’2” defender scored the lone goal Friday as the Blades dropped a 3-1 decision to the Ducks and added an assist the following day as his team rebounded with a 3-0 shutout win at home against the Minnesota Mullets. Listen to a game and you will hear his name so often, you might think he never leaves the ice. He has a power play goal and eight points this season, but his presence is felt away from the puck. As a defender, he played a big part in limiting opportunities for the Mullets Saturday. As an ‘05 this could just be the start of a great run for Moskvitin in Owatonna, aka O-Town.

Goaltender: Levi Preugschas, Steele County Blades

It’s no surprise to see Preugschas (‘03/Buffalo, Minn.) listed as the Goaltender of the Week based on the workload, he has carried this season. Admittedly the season hasn’t gone exactly the way the Blades hoped but Preugschas has played a bit part in keeping games close since the start of the campaign. This past weekend, he played both games, surrendering three goals on Friday night, but putting it all together to kick out all 19 shots he faced against the Mullets. Saturday’s start was his 13th of the season, and he has been the goaltender of record for all six wins for the team. He is among the league leaders in games played and his 491 shots faced is the sixth highest total. He has shaken all of it off and compiled a .910 Save Percentage to date.