BOSTON, MA -- We've reached the final month of the 2016-17 Eastern Hockey League season. This past week, 14 of the 15 Elite Divisions teams took to the ice and that brought us plenty of worthy candidates for our weekly honors.
We're pleased to announce that Fedor Lopaev (New England Wolves), Andrew Gargiulo (Brewster Bulldogs), and Andrew Bechard (Vermont Lumberjacks) have been named the EHL Stars of the Week.
Also, this week's 19U Elite Team of the Week is the Vermont Lumberjacks, with an Honorable Mention award going out to Brian Hogan of the Brewster Bulldogs.
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Our next Premier Stars of the Week will be announced on Monday, February 13th at 4:00pm.
Our next 19U Elite Stars of the Week will be announced on Tuesday, February 14th at 4:00pm.
Lopaev and the Wolves won all three of their road games this past weekend, improving their overall record up to 20-13-3 for the season. The Wolves 43 points put them in a tie with the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs and Valley Jr. Warriors for 3rd place in the North Conference standings.
Lopaev's six-point weekend increases his season totals up to 33 points in 32 games for the Wolves. The '97 forward is now ranked 4th on his team in scoring. In the middle of a very tight playoff race, Lopaev will look to continue to lead his team as they host the New Jersey Rockets on Saturday and the Boston Jr. Rangers on Sunday.
Last weekend, Gargiulo and the Bulldogs snapped their losing streak with a two-game sweep of the Lehigh Valley Jr. Rebels. Brewster is fighting to get back in the South Conference playoff picture, as they sit just four points back of the New Jersey Rockets for the last spot in the playoffs. Brewster also has two games in hand on the New Jersey.
Gargiulo played well between the pipes on Saturday, stopping 28 of the 29 shots he faced. With the solid performance, the 2000 birth year netminder picked up his 4th win of the season. Gargiulo and the Bulldogs now get set for only one game this week as they host the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers on Saturday.
Bechard and the Lumberjacks won both of their games this past weekend, sweeping their two-game set with the Boston Jr. Rangers. With the pair of victories, Vermont improves it's overall record up to 28-4-2 for the season. The Lumberjacks' 58 points keep them at the top of the North Conference, and move them into 1st place in the league standings.
Bechard's seven-point weekend included both game-winners on Saturday and Sunday. The '98 forward now has 65 points in 33 games for the Lumberjacks, and that includes 26 points in his last 9 games. Bechard and the Lumberjacks are 13-0-1 in their last 14 games, and they now get set for a big weekend in Vermont. On Saturday, they face-off with the Philadelphia Revolution at 9:00am, and then they hit the ice with the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers at 1:50pm on Sunday.
This week's 19U Elite Team of the Week is the Vermont Lumberjacks.
Vermont took care of business this past weekend, by sweeping their two-game set with the Boston Jr. Rangers. With the pair of victories, Vermont improves its overall record up to 28-4-2 for the season. The Lumberjacks' 58 points keep them at the top of the North Conference, and move them into 1st place in the league standings.
The Lumberjacks have been one of the teams to beat for much of the regular season, just look at their six total losses as an example. They lost back-to-back games once in October and then again in November. Outside of those pairs of games, their only other losses were in the first game of the season, and in mid-January.
Right now the Lumberjacks are on a mini, two-game winning streak. While this number is obviously small in figure, keep in mind that they've already run off streaks of 11 and 10 games earlier this season.
Currently on a roll of 13-0-1 in their last 14 games, the Lumberjacks welcome both the Philadelphia Revolution and the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers to town this weekend.
This week's 19U Elite Honorable Mention award goes out to Brian Hogan of the Brewster Bulldogs.
After being held scoreless on Saturday against the Lehigh Valley Jr. Rebels, Hogan responded in a big way on Sunday. The '97 forward led his team with a pair of goals and a pair of assists, as they picked up a 5-2 victory and a weekend sweep over the Rebels.
