BOSTON, MA -- We've reached the final week of the 2016-17 regular season schedule. While there is only one playoff seed left to be determined in the South Conference, the North Conference will come down to the final weekend. As for this past week, the Elite Division had a number of teams in action, and plenty of worthy candidates for our weekly honors.
We're pleased to announce that Brian Smith (Valley Jr. Warriors), Anthony Thurston (Philadelphia Jr. Flyers), and Carl Bear(New England Wolves) have been named the EHL Stars of the Week.
Also, this week's 19U Elite Team of the Week is the New England Wolves, with an Honorable Mention award going out to the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs.
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Our next Premier Stars of the Week will be announced on Tuesday, March 7th at 11:00am.
Our next 19U Elite Stars of the Week will be announced on Tuesday, March 7th at 4:00pm.
Smith and the Warriors won both of their games this past week, improving their record up to 24-13-3 for the season. Valley's 51 points puts them in a tie with the New England Wolves for 4th place in the North Conference standings. Each team has a pair of games left, and with completely identical records, the Warriors currently hold the head to head tiebreaker over the Wolves.
Smith has been the top scorer for the Warriors all season long, and he'll begin the final week of the regular season tied for 3rd in the league in scoring. The '97 forward will look to lead his team to home ice in the playoffs when the Warriors host the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs on Friday and the Boston Jr. Rangers on Saturday.
Thurston and the Jr. Flyers swept their weekend series with the Hartford Jr. Wolfpack, improving their overall record up to 30-9-1 for the season. The Jr. Flyers' 61 points puts them in 1st place in the South Conference, three points ahead of the Philadelphia Revolution. While the Revolution have a game in hand, each team has already punched their ticket to the playoff round robin the weekend of March 10th through 12th.
Thurston's three-point weekend included the game-winner on Friday, his 3rd of the season. The Jr. Flyers wrap-up the regular season this weekend with matchups against the Vermont Lumberjacks (Saturday) and the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs(Sunday).
Bear and the Wolves swept their weekend home-and-home series with the Boston Jr. Rangers, keeping pace with the Valley Jr. Warriors in the North Conference standings. The Wolves are playing their best hockey at the perfect time, as they carry the momentum of an 8-game winning streak into the final week of the season.
Bear's four-point weekend also included the shootout winner on Sunday, The native of Maine is playing well down the stretch, tallying 11 points during the team's current winning streak. Bear and the Wolves finish up the regular season with matchups this week against the Boston Jr. Rangers and Boston Bandits.
This week's 19U Elite Team of the Week is the New England Wolves.
It doesn't matter what sport it is, every team wants to peak and play their best at the right time. For hockey in particular, the time is now, as we head towards the playoffs.
Riding an 8-game winning streak, the Wolves are hitting stride at the perfect time. While the team will not be receiving a first round bye in the playoffs, they do however, still have a shot at playing their first playoff game at home. The Wolves finish up the regular season with matchups this week against the Boston Jr. Rangers and Boston Bandits.
This week's 19U Elite Honorable Mention award goes out to the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs.
Some may refer to the Monarchs as as one of those 'under the radar' teams so far this season. With games in hand on much of the North Conference, the Monarchs have quietly climbed their way into the #2 seed in the standings. New Hampshire is now two points ahead of the Boston Bandits, and they essentially control their destiny down the stretch, with four games on tap this week to end the regular season.
