By Joshua Boyd / USPHLPremier.com
The United States Premier Hockey League is previewing each Premier Division ahead of their start dates in the 2024-25 season. Check back each weekday to see which Premier division is up next!
Order is 2023-24 Regular Season Finish
Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings
Season Opener: Sept. 27 at Minnesota Mullets
The Riverkings accomplished a major goal in 2023-24, returning to the USPHL National Championships for the first time since the Premier’s inaugural season of 2017-18. They were also proud to send a large group of players on to NCAA and ACHA schools from last year’s squad. With players from that very successful Riverkings team expected to return this year, GM/Head Coach Paul Pechmann is excited with the potential for even greater things to come in 2024-25.
“I am very excited about our roster this upcoming season, because we have the right guys returning as they will lead the way on and off the ice with a solid group of newcomers that have a variety of experience from all different leagues,” said Pechmann, who has guided the Riverkings since the 2022-23 season. “What I enjoy about coaching is watching the team, as well as individuals, grow and develop into certain roles that maybe we weren’t expecting at the beginning of the season.”
The Riverkings like to play a balanced game of high-octane offense and shutdown defense, and Pechmann expects this year’s team to continue that approach – and also continue to perfect it.
“Knowing the way we like to play and what we preach, I’ll start it off by thinking we will be strong on the back end. Again, that may change quickly so we’ll just have to see as we progress,” Pechmann added. “I like to think we addressed the need for more offensive-minded guys this year, but who are still willing to play the 200-foot game – and not just forwards but I see that from the D as well.”
With nine teams fighting tooth and nail every weekend in a competitive division, the Riverkings know that their path to a potential return to the top will be an extremely tough but exciting one.
“I am looking forward to seeing how it’ll all come together,” Pechmann said. “As always, it’ll be another tough year as our division is very tough, but I like the group we have brought in so we should be very competitive again.”
Minnesota Squatch
Season Opener: Sept. 20 at Minnesota Mullets
The Squatch went to the USPHL Nationals for the first time in 2024 and certainly enjoyed playing at that lofty stage just two years into their existence. For Owner, GM and Head Coach Chic Pojar, it’s all just the beginning of a new phase of Squatch hockey.
“We are very excited about this year’s team, especially coming off our Nationals trip in March. We have 12 returning players and I believe we have some strong leaders in this group. We will have another skilled, fast team and we should score a lot of goals,” added Pojar. “We’re not as big and heavy as past Squatch teams, so I expect teams will try to bang us around. I say ‘bring it on,’ as our power play will be strong again with the skilled guys we have.”
Jay Ellingson returns to the Squatch after already bypassing the 100-point mark last year with 101, while Cannon Bonifay was not far behind at 88 points. Those two will help drive the Squatch offense, while Jeb Gould and Thomas Wiesen return on the blue line.
“We are also anticipating big things from returning goalie A.J. Smith,” added Pojar.
Additionally, the Squatch have added USPHL veteran Matthias Mader, in addition to former NA3HL goalie Anyon Bennett.
“We are excited to have Matthias Mader with us this year on the blue line. He’s a skilled D who should thrive with our offensive style of play,” said Pojar. “Keep an eye on Bennett. He’s quick and he can make some highlight reel saves.”
Newcomers up front include ’05’s Nikita Schneider, Danylo Tsybulskyi and Spencer Thompson and ’06 Grant O’Connor.
“It will be fun to watch Nikita and Danylo work their magic, and Spencer and Grant will get on the score sheet as well,” said Pojar. “On the blue line, we are looking for good things from ’05’s Braeden Kerr and Ian Nelson and ’06 Brendan Carmody. They will be tough to play against as they bring skill and grit to the table.”
In the North Division, Pojar’s looking to get things going as he expects some surprises from the standings of prior seasons, but with the strongest teams still with the potential to lead the way.
“I expect the River Kings to be strong again. They are structurally sound and always difficult to play against. The Northwest Express should be solid this year and we’re excited to play them in Spooner, Wis. I hear their fans like to get loud!” said Pojar. “It will be interesting to see how things come together for Isanti, Hudson and Dells Ducks, all with new coaches for this season.”
Hudson Havoc
Season Opener: Sept. 28 at Northwest Express
The Havoc have brought in new Head Coach Don Babineau, who has a junior coaching resume stretching back 25 years, including a prior stint as the head coach of fellow North Division members the Isanti Outlaws. He’s not interested in anything short of winning the North Division in his first year with the Havoc.
“The expectations are always to win the division. Hudson is known for being a top team in the North year after year. After losing in double overtime with a Nationals berth on the line last season, the bar is set and we will rely on many newcomers to get us over that hump,” added Babineau. “We look forward to striving towards our team goals along with every player’s goals along with our team mission.
“Some of the expectations will be related to community outreach. We expect our players to be heavily involved with the community throughout the season,” Babineau added. “We are looking to be just as successful off the ice as on. It’s a great group so far. I’m looking forward to the season and where things may take us.”
The Havoc still have exactly one month from today to pull their Game 1 roster together, so Babineau and the Havoc are preaching patience as some of their top junior-eligible players are working towards potential Tier-2 spots.
“With players that will be starting out with Tier 2 teams, [the amount of returning players] is still undecided. I think it’s important to let the vets still striving to the next level to stay focused on their Plan A,” Babineau added.
Three-year NA3HL and SIJHL veteran Derrand Wilcox joins the Havoc, bringing a “speedy, gritty forward who has set high expectations for himself.” Additionally goaltender Dominic Hite brings two years of NA3HL experience to the Havoc.
“Dominic went to the semifinal of their national tournament. We expect him to help our newcomers with what it takes to get to Nationals,” added Babineau. “He has been around good players and coaches.”
Isaac Webb, an ‘05 from the Chippewa Falls Steel 18U AAA team, is another exciting newcomer as a junior rookie.
“Issac has played on some good AAA teams and has a ton of upside skill and talent. At 6-feet-1-inch and 200 pounds he will bring heavy boots on the offensive side. He has potential to make an impact right out of the gates,” Babineau added. “We will be a bit younger this season and could name off many that will bring value to our organization both on and off the ice.”
With experience in the North, including as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Moose (now Northwest Express) last year, so he knows to expect the unexpected.
“Anyone can beat anyone at any time. The parity in our divisoon has always been great. Some teams go through roster changeover while some are heavily loaded with veterans. It changes year after year so I can’t say one team or another,” he added.
Minnesota Blue Ox
Season Opener: Sept. 14 at Minnesota Mullets
The Minnesota Blue Ox will be powered by a veteran-heavy group as they look to make a return to the USPHL Nationals, a level they reached in three of their first four seven seasons.
“We’re looking forward to season eight in Coon Rapids, Minn. We have 13 returners from last year’s 25-18-1-0 team and 12 newcomers,” said Owner, GM and Head Coach Jay Witta. “We should be bigger, faster and more skilled than last season. On paper, we’re a top four finisher, and that’s been our staple the past seven seasons. Every night in our division is a must win. Every team can beat every team. So focus and discipline, on and off the ice, will be a big ingredient to our success.”
Another big ingredient for Blue Ox success is the fact the players have been together much of their so-called “off-season.”
“We had a great U20/U17 Spring/Summer Group of 30-plus players, so our guys got plenty of reps, including eight tourney games, and they’ve developed nicely since May,” Witta added.
The Blue Ox’s defense will feature some of their top veteran leaders this year, including Eli Puchner, Zach Farnsworth, Bentley Sathre and Gordy Lawson. Noah Scherf, a member of the 2022-23 Blue Ox, is also back from one season in the ACHA. Jackson Clough, one of three ‘05 goalies on the Blue Ox, put up a .955 save percentage last year. Pearse Mayrose, who was brought in for one game last year, is now a regular in the Blue Ox crease crew, as well.
Incoming goaltender Joseph Auletti – a USPHL Elite Atlantic Division All-Star last year – helped his team to the 2024 Nationals, as well, and finished with a .940 save percentage.
Also back from the 2023-24 team for the forward ranks is big Haden Henke, a 6-foot-4-inch, 215-pound power forward from Minnetonka, Minn. Additionally, Mike Abrego and Jack Wallace were top 10 scorers for last year’s squad and are among the offensive leaders. Cooper Nielsen, Jayden White and Caleb Caldwell are all returning as ‘05 forwards.
Newcomer forward Connor Heniff, another big body (6-3, 215), joins with USPHL Premier experience, and A.J. Smiglewski (6-2, 185) joins from Buffalo High School. Jace Lombardo, who was voted by fans as the USPHL Elite MVP, also joins after posting 121 points in 50 combined regular season and playoff games and setting the Elite single season scoring record.
Additional newcomers include Swedish forward Tom Sandholm, Caleb Goar (formerly of the Andover High School Huskies) and ’06 forward Nick Korpi, who captained his Team Wyoming AA squad to a USA Hockey National Championship. Lars Goerlitz and John Sittig join as talented ‘07 forwards.
On defense, ’06 Leighton Buckmeier, the former captain at Fergus Falls (Minn.) High School joins on the blue line along with ’05 Kellen Maher (the captain of Tartan High School) and Premier-experienced ’07 blueliner Carson Finch.
The Blue Ox are geared up to face the meat grinder of the North Division.
“All nine teams are a threat in our division. The Northwest Express, Riverkings, Steele County and our Blue Ox will be very strong,” said Witta. “Hudson and the Squatch always are in the mix, and Isanti has a solid new coaching staff. The Mullets and the Ducks are a thorn every game, as well.”
Northwest Express
Season Opener: Sept. 20 at Isanti Outlaws
The former Minnesota Moose have rebranded and moved to Spooner, Wis., and are the Northwest Express going forward. And they want to make sure to keep doing just that – moving forward. The franchise has a legacy of high achievement, including qualifying for the first four Nationals in a row and making a fifth trip as recently as 2023. Second-year Head Coach Nic Leibold talks about what to expect from the Express in Year 1 at Spooner and for the North Division overall.
“I would expect this to be a good year for our program and the whole division. I am excited for the season to get going and to get into games. It’s always a fun time of the year when guys start showing up and the season gets going. With our current roster, I am expecting us to be a quick, puck-possession type of team,” added Leibold. “Our division is always a tough division where anybody can beat anybody. I expect the Blue Ox to be pretty good as well as the Squatch. Teams like the Steele County Blades and the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings are also very well-coached and always tough to play against.”
The Express were able to bring back some former Moose players including forwards Jaden Aguilera, Derek McGrew and Emmet Menendez, as well as defenseman Preston Winkler.
“Aguilera, McGrew and Winkler are some guys I’m pretty excited to see. They are all going to be third-year guys for us, and have worked hard over the summer for their last season of junior hockey,” said Leibold. “Menendez will be in his second year with us, and I’m excited to see the jump that he makes.”
The team also has several junior-experienced players joining the program, all of whom have him “excited to see how they bring their experience to our program.”
This includes three players coming up from the USPHL Elite in forwards Wyatt Tischer and Mason Philpot and defenseman Connor Lynch, as well as former NA3HL players forward Dylan Wolf and goaltender Dakota Jahnke, former VIJHL defenseman Eli Underhill and SIJHL defenseman Connor Corcoran.
“We are going to have a lot of new guys coming in this year. Some of the guys I’m excited about are forwards Evan Burchardt, Otis Berge, and Caeleb Burch,” said Leibold. “One of the most exciting parts is to see how the new guys jump into junior hockey and see how they are able to develop and grow in such a short period of time.”
Steele County Blades
Season Opener: Sept. 20 at Minnesota Blue Ox
Playing in one of the tightest divisions certainly has great benefits in terms of outstanding competition every given night, but it also makes it tough sometimes to establish yourself in the top four of a division where – as many have said already – “anybody can beat anybody.”
The Blades have enjoyed a 12-year history already, including nine seasons already in the USPHL, and they have sent hundreds of players to NCAA, ACHA and AAU schools since 2012. What they are still looking for, however, is their first USPHL Premier Nationals berth.
“We expect to be a team that competes every night with a solid mix of veterans and first year players. We will lean on those veterans to help teach the fresh faces what exactly it takes to compete in the always competitive North division,” said Blades GM/Head Coach Nick Adamek.
The Blades are also expecting tough competition from all corners of the North.
“We are looking forward to playing outdoors in January against the Minnesota Mullets and feel that Coach Chris Walby will be icing a great team there,” said Adamek. “We are also looking forward to getting back to Spooner, Wis., to see what the Express are all about!”
The Blades might be able to get that high finish they’ve been seeking, as they’ll be one of the more experience-rich teams in the North Division this year.
“We’re excited to follow up on guys like Arturas Laurynavichus, Peyton Inks, Nate Rakness, Quentin Friborg, Paul Cole, Levi Ness, Adam Rauser, and Nigel Ladret up front,” said Adamek. “We’ll rely on the leadership of Tyler Hadfield, Jackson Stiles, Trevor Dolata, Josh Pexa, Ethan Jerge, Nate Bowlby, and Bence Gáspár on the back end.”
The Blades are also bringing in Nolan Winkler, a full-time USPHL Elite player who has previous Premier experience with North Division teams, as does Jakub Tomecek.
“We are excited to see what Nolan can do making the jump to a full-time Premier role,” said Adamek. “Brayden Grant is coming over from a competitive league looking to make a splash. Lastly, James Hunt is coming in to compete for a starting job in net from a very good league North of the border,” added Adamek.
Isanti Outlaws
Season Opener: Sept. 20 vs. Northwest Express
The Outlaws come back to the ice with new blood both in the jerseys and behind the bench. Brothers Nick and Brett Decheine, former players with Andover (Minn.) High School, will join forces as co-coaches of the 2024-25 Outlaws.
The Outlaws are a largely new team, with most of last year’s veteran core having moved on to college and pro hockey. But with that, they have experience where it counts and should be competitive in the North Division every time the puck drops.
“We are expecting to have the best goaltending combination in our division and make a good playoff run,” said Brett Decheine. “The Minnesota Squatch and the Riverkings will be the toughest and I believe the Northwest Express will be significantly better than last season.”
On defense, the Outlaws bring back veteran blueliners Carsen Thorson and Gavin Anderson.
Additionally, in net, they bring back two USPHL-experienced goalies that – as aforementioned – the Outlaws are extremely excited about. Casey Vinti and Liam Luther both bring the experience the Outlaws are looking for to be anchors and leaders in the far back of the ice.
Isanti also has players coming from around the country and from abroad to bolster the ranks of the returning players from the team and the league.
Joel Gerard is a goalie from Auckland, New Zealand, who has represented his country at the World Junior Championship level. Charlie Kritzeck (’07) and Mitchell Haase (’08) made their name with Mora-Milaca High School in Minnesota the last few years. Dominick Brandt of Fort Collins, Colo., is another exciting newcomer for the new-look Outlaws.
Minnesota Mullets
Season Opener: Sept. 14 vs. Minnesota Blue Ox
It is already looking like a special season for the Mullets and their fans, as they will venture outdoors for two games and have an additional three games at the University of Minnesota’s Ridder Arena. This is, of course, in addition to their regular games on the campus of NCAA Division III Augsburg University. But more than anything, Owner, GM and Head Coach Chris Walby is excited about his 2024-25 team.
“I’m very excited about this group of players and their potential. We have been building something special here over the past two years and I believe we are about to have an amazing year,” said Walby, who expects that the Steele County Blades and Minnesota Blue Ox will see big moves up the standings this year.
The Mullets are excited to be bringing back four of their top players from last year, starting with returning All-Star forward Cyril Valach, along with Cade Anderson, Jimmy Lindblom, Aiden Elliott, Carson Marshall, Brodie Raygor and goaltenders Preston Farr and Kody Niederkorn.
Goaltender Dylan Keeley (‘05), out of Roseville High School, is among the exciting newcomers, along with Roseville teammate Jovan Fowler (‘06) and ‘06 Max Young from Mounds View High School. There is plenty of local talent to send the Mullets up the standings in 2024-25.
Dells Ducks
Season Opener: Sept. 28 at Minnesota Blue Ox
The Ducks are working towards making their best impression in several years. Their last two seasons were a big improvement on the prior two years, so they are headed generally in the right direction. Part of the movement has to do with bringing in Chase Crawshaw as General Manager, after he helped bring the Motor City Gamblers out of dark times and into respectability in the Midwest Division.
“With this being Year 1 of us taking over the Ducks, we have done a lot of research into the North Division,” said Crawshaw. “With the team that we have, we are confident we will raise the level of competitiveness in the division. We have done a major roster overhaul from the previous team, but we do have some players we chose to keep around.”
John Scott, a local product who formerly played for Reedsville Dells High School, is returning to the Ducks after leading forwards in scoring with 32 points. Ashot Davtyan, an ‘05 from Russia, “is looking to have a breakout Year 3 with the Ducks.”
Crawshaw has been able to bring in some additional players with a great level of junior experience such as Jonathan Jakshoj, Jake Knieling, Maximilian Pierce, Jaxson Wesley and Liam Devlin.
“We have a very talented and high character group of junior veterans,” said Crawshaw.
Looking at new players, the Ducks are excited about rookie defenseman Charlie Domaracki as well as goalie Patrick O’Gara.
“These are just two of the many incoming junior players we expect to play a role for us,” added Crawshaw.
The Ducks are one month away from opening night, but they plan to charge right into the pack like a ram.
“The North is a tight division, and we expect teams such as the Riverkings and Squatch to return as strong competitors,” said Crawshaw. “Outside of us, I am looking at the Minnesota Mullets as a team to take a step up this season.”
