FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

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FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

April 11, 2025 - Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release


MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at PORT HURON PROWLERS

Millette, Cooper Help Prowlers Take Shootout

by Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI - Reggie Millette scored the only goal in the shootout to help the Port Huron Prowlers grab the extra point from the Motor City Rockers on April 11 at McMorran Place. Reid Cooper outdueled Ricardo Gonzalez to get himself back in the win column.

"We had a lot of mistakes tonight," said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. "We turned over the puck quite a bit and we didn't get pucks deep as much as we talked about coming into the weekend. With that said, I thought the guys battled and we got fantastic goaltending and that was the difference in the game."

The Prowlers got on the board first in the opening period. Daniel Chartrand ripped the puck from the corner towards the blue paint. Matt Graham got a touch on it and it found a way through Gonzalez for Graham's career-high 24th of the season.

That lead held into the third. The Rockers continued working on a power play that leaked over from the middle frame and TJ Sneath put home the rebound from a Nick Gullo shot from the wall.

Both goaltenders stopped two-on-none opportunities and got the game to a shootout. Millette scored in round two and Cooper stopped all three shooters to seal the deal.

"I tried to stay as big as possible," Cooper said. "In talks with [Coach Paulin] and shootouts in the past, I've learned that being aggressive and cutting down their angle gives me a really good chance to make the save."

Millette comes away with the shootout winner and an assist. Cooper made 18 saves in the 65 minutes before the skills competition.

Gonzalez stopped 47 shots in the loss.

The Prowlers and Rockers finish the regular season at Big Boy Arena on April 12 at 7:05 P.M. The game will be available live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

DANBURY HAT TRICKS at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Black Bears Ice Out Hat Tricks on Hall of Fame Night

by Cole Parenti

Binghamton, NY - The Black Bears and Hat Tricks met for the final time this regular season inside the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena. It was a special night for the entire city as legends Jason Spezza, Dieter Kochan, and Johnny Hart were inducted into the Binghamton Hockey Hall of Fame. The team donned specialty BC Icemen jerseys for the night to celebrate the occasion

The first period saw Josh Newberg break the ice as he scored from the slot against his former team. Danbury's lead would not last long as C.J. Stubbs redirected a Tyson Kirkby pass to tie the game at one. Then Jesse Anderson had the flaming stitch as he would strike twice extending the Binghamton lead to 3-1, this is where the score would hold at the end of the first.

In the second period, both teams would once again strike, this time within minutes of each other. Chase Harwell pulled the Hat Trick to within one as he converted on the doorstep. Tyson Kirkby responded restoring Binghamtons two-goal lead with a perfect finish off an Austin Thompson pass.

The third period was all Black Bears as they tacked on two more goals to extend their lead to 6-2. The first came from Gavin Yates as he crashed the zone and deposited a puck for the fifth Binghamton goal. The last of the night came from Don Olivieri who sniped one from near the goal line.

Both Connor McAnanama and Frankie McClendon had good nights as each made tough saves. McAnanama stood tall turning away 21 of 23 Hat Tricks' shots. His counterpart Frankie McClendon stopped 37 of the 43 shots asked of him. The Black Bears win consecutive games and send the fans home happy on Hall of Fame Night. The Black Bears are back in action tomorrow as they meet the Hockey Club Venom for the final game of the season.

Hat Tricks Fall in Season Series Finale with Black Bears, 6-2

by Doug Lattuca

Binghamton, NY - The Hat Tricks allowed three goals in the first and third periods and lost 6-2 to the Binghamton Black Bears on Hall of Fame Night in Binghamton on Friday. The Black Bears won their sixth in a row against Danbury and finished the season series with a 9-2 record.

Danbury's Josh Newberg started the scoring at 4:44 off a centering feed from Jacob Ratcliffe into the slot. The veteran forward notched his second goal of the season and first since Feb. 7 in his 300th professional game.

Binghamton did not trail for long after scoring three goals in the final 6:30 of the opening period. CJ Stubbs tied the game at 13:01, Jesse Anderson gave the Black Bears their first lead at 15:45 and added an insurance tally shorthanded with just 38 seconds remaining in the period.

The Hat Tricks got back within one on a Chase Harwell power play goal at 10:29, his 8th of the season. The second year forward chopped home a free puck in the slot to make it 3-2. But Tyson Kirkby, on his birthday, answered 22 seconds later with a one-timer from the high slot to extend the lead back to two, 4-2.

In the third period, Gavin Yates and Don Olivieri added to the lead at 2:08 and 17:13 respectively, to grow the advantage to 6-2.

The Hat Tricks were outshot 43-23 in a game where forwards Jonny Ruiz and Vadim Frolov and defensemen Charlie Bedard and Kyle Gonzalez did not play.

Danbury converted on one of its six power play opportunities while killing off all six Black Bears' chances.

The Hat Tricks wrap up the regular season on Saturday in Danbury against the Watertown Wolves. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

HC VENOM at WATERTOWN WOLVES

Venom Beat Wolves in SO

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY -For the final time this season, the Wolves and HC Venom squared off in the Watertown Municipal Arena on this Friday evening. The Wolves have taken 6 of 7 games this season from the venom. The Venom's lone win against the Wolves came on the Watertown ice.

The Venom would strike first on this evening when Stavros Soilis intercepted a crossing pass and had a breakaway on Wolves starter Eloli Bouchard and stuffed the puck between the pipe and Bouchard's skate to make it 1-0 at 7:04.

At the 9:07 mark, the Venoms Kaleb Kinsky added to the lead, sliding a shot through the five hole, assisted by Greth Steinway and Ivan Ponivanov, extending the lead to 2-0.

Although Watertown outshot the Venom 14-10 in the first, the Venom held the 2-0 lead at the break.

Trevor Lord got the Wolves on the board just :40 into the second when he dumped the puck into the offensive end and it took an odd bounce over the blocker of Venom starter Rahul Sharma making it 2-1. Trevor Grasby had the assist on the goal as he added to his league leading total, now at 66 for the season.

At 6:59 Trevor Neumann was able to get a stick blade on a Quinn Chevers shot and deflect the puck to the top of the cage, knotting the game at 2 each, with assists going to Chevers and Carter Thornton.

Steven Klinck gave the Wolves their first lead of the night at the 17:10 mark, roofing a shot over Sharma, assisted by Matthew Gordon pushing the score to 3-2.

The Venom outshot Watertown 11-10 in the second, with Watertown holding the lead at intermission.

The Venom tied the game once again at 4:57 of the third with a blast from the blue line from Mark Pozsar, unassisted to make it 3-3.

Neither team would score again and the game would head to overtime. The extra 5 minutes wasn't enough to find a winner, so it was on to a shootout.

In the shootout, the Venom would get goals from Ricards Jelenskis and Connor Craig, to lift the Venom to a 4-3 win over the Wolves.

The Wolves will close out their regular season schedule on Saturday at Danbury against the Hat Tricks. The Venom will head down Rt 81 in New York to battle the Binghamton Black Bears in their final game of the season.

For the Wolves, it will be a quick turn around as they will host the Motor City Rockers in a wild card game on Tuesday evening at 7:30

DASHERS of DANVILLE at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

'Cats Set New Franchise SOG Record, Edge Dashers 5-3

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA -The Blue Ridge Bobcats shattered their franchise record for shots on goal with a whopping 76 on the night, and were able to push 5 of them past Parker Rutherford and outlast the Dashers for a 5-3 win before a crowd of 1,361 at Hitachi Energy Arena.

The 76 SOG still fell short of the FPHL record, but surpassed the NHL single-game record of 71, ironically the number of saves made by Rutherford in a losing effort.

The Dashers proved early on and continued to show throughout the night that their record did not indicate the type of team they are and that they were not to be taken lightly. Former Bobcat Lucas Rothe and Yosuke Jumonji each scored in the first 4:08 of the penultimate contest of the regular season to vault the Dashers to an early 2-0 lead.

A slow-starting Bobcats offense quickly got to work, with Milan Brezcko converting to cut the lead in half with his second professional goal 3:26 after Jumonji. Hunter Godmere sped down the near side wing, drove the net, waited on Rutherford to go for the poke check and then found Breczko by himself on the backdoor for the tap in to make it 2-1 after one.

Carson Andreoli put home his first of two on the night to begin the scoring in the second, corralling a deflected shot and banking it off the skate of a defender and into the net nearly 9 minutes into the middle frame to tie the game at 2. Filip Hlavac followed at the 11:33 mark of the middle frame, one-timing home the final piece of a beautiful tic-tac-toe setup from Justin Daly and Mike Mercurio to give Blue Ridge their first lead of the night, 3-2.

The Dashers answered 6:06 later in the form of another former Bobcat, TJ Prexler, who roofed home a great setup from Zach Slinger to tie the game back at 3 entering period three.

The difference was a pair of Bobcats goals 5:13 apart in the final frame. Nick McHugh rifled a rocket off Rutherford's pad, and the rebound was sniped home by Mercurio for what served as the game winning goal to make it 4-3 Bobcats at the 7:44 mark of the third. Brandon Reller then beautifully set up Andreoli on a cross crease feed to seal the deal the 13:58 mark of the third.

Connor Green picked up the win between the pipes, stopping 31 of 34 Dashers shots. Nick Stuckless picked up third star honors for his pair of assists on the evening, while Mercurio took home second star honors for his 1 goal/1 assist outing. Andreoli earned first star honors for his 2-goal game.

With the win, the Bobcats move one step closer to clinching home ice advantage for Tuesday's Continental Division Wild Card Play-In Game, needing another victory Saturday night to do so.

The two teams wrap up their respective regular season tomorrow night, with puck drop set for 7:30 and doors set to open at 6:30. Tickets are available by calling 276-335-2100 or visiting blueridgebobcats.com/tickets.

Rutherford Makes Career High 72 Saves in 5-3 Loss

by Devin Dobek

Wytheville, VA - Carrying with them the energy from the final home weekend in Danville, the Dashers were excited for a fast, hard-nosed battle with the Blue Ridge Bobcats. After building an early 2 goal lead, the Dashers would get peppered for 77 shots and ultimately fall 5-3 despite Parker Rutherford's career night.

The Dashers were ready to come out guns blazing and looked to play spoiler rolling into their final weekend of action with the Blue Ridge Bobcats. The opening 8 minutes were packed with action. It took just 2:43 for former Bobcat assistant captain and current Dasher assistant captain Lucas Rothe to open the evening's offense with his 3rd in orange. And then less than 90 seconds later Yosuke Jumonji caught Connor Green sliding and just barely muscled the puck through his legs to double the margin at 2-0. But Blue Ridge would not go away quietly. 3 minutes later Milan Breczko finished a back-door tap-in to cut the deficit in half. The remainder of the period Blue Ridge dominated the offensive zone. But once again it was Parker Rutherford standing on his head to stop 27/28 first period shots to hold the score at 2-1. Physicality picked up a ton too, and boiled over in the final minute with Erdman and Andreoli taking matching roughing minors. Andreoli also had a late penalty for interference, opening the door to the Dasher power play going into period 2.

Opening the frame on the man advantage the Dashers struggled to hit their stride. Gaining some momentum from a textbook kill, the Blue Ridge Bobcats went back to work and dominated once again in the offensive zone. But they had a hard time beating the league leader in saves: Parker Rutherford. It would take a deflection off of a Dasher defender for the Bobcats to tie it, with Andreoli being credited for the mark. 2:35 later Filip Hlavac blasted a one timer off a beautiful 3-on-3 rush to put the Cats in front for their first lead at 3-2. The Dashers needed to find an answer, and why not turn to the power of the revenge game. With just over two minutes to play, former Bobcat TJ Prexler buried a feed from Zack Slinger in tight to tie the contest at 3 and set the stage for an entertaining final chapter. Blue Ridge outshot the Dashers 56-27 through 40 minutes, but still it was anyone's game up for grabs.

To the third period we went, all knotted up, much too familiar territory for the Dashers as of late. The ice was tilted in favor of the Bobcats for the final chapter. Michael Mercurio's 6th goal with the Bobcats at 7:44 would restore the lead at 4-3. The Dashers just couldn't find quality opportunities to respond, other than a TJ Prexler post hit on a rebound. Carson Andreoli's second of the night with 6 minutes to play definitely took the wind out of the sails of a tired Dashers Hockey Club. Blue Ridge outshot the Dashers 21-7 in the final frame, and 77-34 in full regulation time. Parker Rutherford posted a new career high 72 saves in the losing effort.

The Dashers will close out their inaugural season tomorrow with the Bobcats at 6:30 inside Hitachi Energy Arena. A win tomorrow for Blue Ridge will clear them to host the Baton Rouge Zydeco in the Wild Card 1 game winner-take-all on Tuesday.

ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS

RIVER DRAGONS RELEGATE ROCK LOBSTERS TO SECOND PLACE

Moore Scores Twice As Columbus Tops Athens

by Tom Callahan

Columbus, GA - Kyle Moore scored twice including the game winner as the Columbus River Dragons beat the Athens Rock Lobsters 3-1 on Friday night, setting up a 2 vs. 3 first round playoff series between the two teams.

Moore scored the first two goals of the game, the first on the power play as he faked circling the net and instead fed the puck to the near post where it banked in off the skate of Rock Lobsters goaltender William Lavalliere.

His second marker came on a deflection off the stick of Rock Lobsters defenseman Carter Shinkaruk, redirecting the puck over the shoulder of Lavalliere for a 2-0 lead.

After Athens struck back with a power play goal of their own from league leading scorer Kayson Gallant, the River Dragons iced the game with a late empty net goal from Jestin Somero.

Trevor Babin made 22 saves for the victory.

Because of the Rock Lobsters loss combined with the Carolina Thunderbirds shootout win over Monroe, Columbus and Athens will face each other in the Continental Division Semifinal Series that starts with Game One Wednesday, April 16 at 7:05 pm in Columbus. Games Two and Three (if necessary) will be played Friday and Saturday night in Athens at 7:05 pm.

Notes:

Babin also picked up an assist on Moore's first period goal, his first with the River Dragons.

River Dragons forward Alexander Jmaeff skated in his 200th professional game.

Gallant's power play goal moved his league-leading total to 39 on the season, and he leads the league in power play goals with 16 on the season.

Garret Milan's assist on Gallant's goal is his league-leading 99th point of the season.

The regular season wraps up tomorrow night in Columbus on Fan Appreciation Night at 7:05 pm. There's plenty of giveaways and prizes for fans in attendance and one lucky fan is going home with a 4k TV courtesy of the River Dragons! Tickets are on sale now through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.

Columbus Takes Game One vs. Rock Lobsters

by Matteen Zibanejadrad

Columbus, GA -The Athens Rock Lobsters fell 3-1 to the Columbus River Dragons on Friday night in the Columbus Civic Center.

Kyle Moore opened the scoring on the power play with a clever more on the short side to flip one past William Lavalliere with six minutes to go in the first.

Moore would double his tally in the second period with a hard centering pass that would deflect off a Rock Lobster stick and in.

Athens got into the game with a Kayson Gallant power-play goal to increase his lead atop both the FPHL goal and power-play goal leaderboards.

Jestin Somero would bury the game with an empty-net goal with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

With the contest between the Carolina Thunderbirds and the Monroe Moccasins being won by Carolina tonight, the Rock Lobsters have cemented their 2nd-place spot in the Continental division.

Due to this result, the Rock Lobsters will face off against the Columbus River Dragons in the first round of the Commissioner's Cup Playoffs.

Game One will be played at the Columbus Civic Center Wednesday, April 16 at 7:05 p.m. Game Two will be played Friday, April 18 at 7:05 p.m. in Akins Ford Arena. Game Three, if necessary, will also drop the puck at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, April 19 in Akins Ford Arena.

The regular season ends tomorrow in the Columbus Civic Center against the River Dragons. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m.

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at MONROE MOCCASINS

MOCCASINS FALL IN SHOOTOUT TO THUNDERBIRDS, 4-3, AHEAD OF SEASON FINALE

by Joseph Furtado

Monroe, LA - The Monroe Moccasins dropped a heartbreaker in the shootout Friday night, falling 4-3 to the Carolina Thunderbirds at the Monroe Civic Center in the penultimate game of the regular season.

Monroe (18-24-9-1-3, 71 points) held three separate leads throughout the night, but Carolina (37-11-4-0-3, 121 points) kept battling back before sealing the win in the shootout. With the loss, the Moccasins are now 0-4 on the season against the Thunderbirds.

Blake Anderson continued his strong finish to the season with two goals, including a shorthanded goal at 7:54 of the first period and a clutch equalizer with just seven seconds remaining in the second. Coy Prevost gave Monroe a 3-2 lead early in the third, but Dawson Baker responded with his second of the night on the power play to knot things up once more.

After a scoreless overtime, the game went to a shootout where the Thunderbirds capitalized on both of their attempts, while the Moccasins came up empty on theirs, going 0/2.

Despite outshooting Carolina 28-20, Monroe couldn't find the finishing touch late, and will look to close the season on a high note when the two teams meet again Saturday night at the Monroe Civic Center at 7:05pm.

MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO

Bartlett Haunts Former Team as Zydeco Dominate

by Bryan Flores

Baton Rouge, LA - The Baton Rouge Zydeco wasted no time putting their stamp on Sunday night's contest, exploding for four goals in the opening 11 minutes en route to a 7-2 beatdown of the Mississippi Sea Wolves. With playoff positioning on the line, the Zydeco turned in a complete effort-highlighted by revenge, redemption, and relentless scoring.

It took just 74 seconds for Ross Bartlett to make his presence known, scoring against the team that let him go earlier this season. Tyler Larwood followed up 40 seconds later with a quick strike of his own, and before the Sea Wolves could settle in, they were down 2-0. Power play goals from Scott Shorrock and Elijah Wilson would balloon the Zydeco lead to 4-0 before the first intermission.

Mississippi got one back early in the second, but Baton Rouge kept the hammer down. Narek Aleksanyan scored his first of two on the night late in the period, and just over a minute later, Ethan Matchim joined the party with a goal of his own. Aleksanyan would add another on the man advantage in the third to cap off the Zydeco's seven-goal outburst.

Elijah Wilson and Scott Shorrock each finished with three-point performances, continuing their consistent presence on the scoresheet, while Dmitry Kuznetsov added a pair of helpers to keep his hot stretch alive.

In net, Bailey Stephens was steady, stopping 21 of 23 shots for a .913 save percentage as he improved to 12-6-3 on the year. Mississippi's Richie Parent faced a barrage of rubber, stopping 34 of 41 in the loss as his record slipped to 4-10-0.

With the victory, Baton Rouge capped off a three-game weekend sweep, firing on all cylinders as the postseason draws near. The Zydeco are getting hot at the right time and will try to lock up home ice with a regulation win and see if the Dashers HC can't help out their cause against the Bobcats.

4-Goal First Downs Dogs, Zydeco Win 7-2

by Jon Kliment

Baton Rouge, LA - The Sea Wolves traveled down the road to Baton Rouge looking to put a positive spin on a tough year. Having taken three of the last five against the Zydeco the Sea Wolves had a daunting task ahead of them.

Shadows of past Sea Wolves hung heavy over Mississippi in the first period as Ross Bartlett came out firing in period one scoring the first goal of the game just 74 seconds in as he got a perfect cross crease pass to give the Zydeco a 1-0 lead. 40 seconds later Tyler Larwood came speeding into the zone and on an odd angle shot was able to find a hole past Richie Parent for the 2-0 advantage. Later in the period on an Andrew Stacey penalty Bartlett found Scott Shorrock for a tap-in to make it 3-0. On a second power play opportunity it took just five seconds to win a draw and find an open Elijah Wilson to put the Zydeco up 4-0.

Mississippi found a little bit of energy as 5:21 into the second period Noah Hippolyte-Smith poke checked a puck into the neutral zone, got past the defenders and went forehand-backhand to bury it behind Bailey Stephens to close the gap to 4-1. Though the Sea Wolves had a spark it was a controversial end to the period that told the story of it. After a dangerous hit at the blue line the Zydeco came down 2 on 0 and after Parent stopped former Sea Wolf Dmitry Kuznetsov on the breakaway Narek Aleksanyan picked up the rebound and wrapped it behind Parent to make it 5-1. 1:19 later Ethan Matchim found the back of the net though the Sea Wolves heavily objected saying he used his hand. After a review the officials denied it and said it was a good goal for the 6-1 lead.

After a scrum involving Bartlett and Don Carter Jr that extended to several fights he Zydeco continued to pour it on while on the power play in the third as Aleksanyan scored his second of the night at 6:22. Mississippi did retaliate on a power play of their own as Philip Wong took a shot from the point that found its way to the back of the net to cut the deficit to 7-2.

Parent stopped 34 of 41 in the loss.

The Sea Wolves conclude their season tomorrow night in Baton Rouge at 7:05pm where they look to close things out on a positive note. Follow along on Youtube.

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Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from April 11, 2025


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