USPHL Premier Players Of The Week: West Region

Week of Nov. 1-7, 2022

Northwest Division

(Summaries By Jonathan West)

Forward: Ondrej Matas, Rock Springs Prospectors

Rock Springs has a big center in No. 55 Ondrej Matas. His six goals and two assists this week included a Saturday night hat trick on the game-winning goal. The ’03 second-year USPHL forward from Most, Czech Republic, is on a six-game point streak.

Defense: Kyle Russell, Vernal Oilers

Oil Captain No. 73 Kyle Russell earns this week’s honors on the blue line after monthly honors for October. The ’02 second-year USPHL player from Dallas, Texas averaged over two points per game this past week with two goals and six assists on the road in Washington State, and still leads the undefeated No. 1 team in the entire league.

Goaltender: Maximilian Lednicky, Rock Springs Prospectors

Rock Springs has sifted out its No. 1 netminder wearing No. 33. Maximilian Lednicky has taken the Diggers and his 4-1 record within one point of second place Seattle in the Northwest Division. The ’04 first-year USPHL goalie from Martin, Slovakia, had two wins, two assists, and a .944 save percentage in the last week.

Mountain Division

(Summaries By Brendan Price)

Forward: Marc-Antoine Prince, Northern Colorado Eagles

Prince (‘02/Boucherville, Que.) had two multi-point games last weekend for NoCo, grabbing a goal and an assist in Friday’s loss and Saturday’s win. He finished the series against Pueblo with five points (2-3-5) in three games and has eight points (3-5-8) during his season-long five-game point streak. The USPHL Premier veteran forward has already topped his scoring output from last year with Twin City, where he had 15 points (8-7-15) in 42 games.

Defense: Jamir Wasil, Idaho Falls Spud Kings

The first Spud King nominee in franchise history belongs to the speedy, 2003-birth year defenseman Wasil, who outscored all his defensive brethren with four points in three games (0-4-4). His points were timely too – Wasil assisted on the Spud Kings’ game-winning goal on Sunday. The Belvidere, Ill., product averaged over 20:00 of ice time per game and committed just one penalty throughout the weekend.

Goaltender: Alex Timmons, Pueblo Bulls

Timmons’ hot start to November has helped him right the ship in a big way, improving on his October totals. Timmons stifled the Eagles all weekend, going 2-0-0 with a 2.14 GAA and a downright filthy .936 save percentage and to help his squad pick up four points in their rivalry series with NoCo. The Stillwater, Minn., product has been lights out lately; he’s 3-0-0 with a microscopic 1.67 GAA and a .948 save percentage in his last three starts.

Pacific Division

(Summaries By Grace Mello)

Forward: Narek Aleksanyan, Las Vegas Thunderbirds

An impressive 14 point weekend in Las Vegas for Aleksanyan (‘02/East Angus, Que.), who has found himself ranked No. 4 in the USPHL Premier with 37 points (19-18-37). In the T-Birds’ three-game-sweep over Bakersfield, he picked up eight goals and six assists.

Defense: Kelly Coldwater, Fresno Monsters

Three must be Coldwater’s lucky number because this ‘04 from St. Louis, Mo., managed to pick up three points in each of Fresno’s wins in their three-game sweep over Tahoe, for a total of nine points. In their Sunday afternoon 5-1 win, he earned himself a hat trick which puts him at 19 points so far this season.

Goalie: Ethan Jourden, Fresno Monsters

Jourden (‘04/Arnold, Mo.) picked up two wins for the Monsters this weekend. He has now won all six of his games played so far this season. He managed to earn a #ShutoutShoutout on Friday with 26 saves in Fresno’s 3-0 win over the Lakers. Currently, he has a .929 save percentage with 157 saves on 169 shots.