HUDSON, N.H. – The Metro Jets and MJDP teams each fell Saturday in their final round robin games at the USPHL National Tournament at Cyclones Arena.

The Jets lost 3-1 to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights, and the MJDP suffered a 4-2 setback to the Charlotte Rush.

With the loss, the MJDP has been eliminated from the tournament while the Jets are off to the quarterfinals.

Jets captain Cody Mastay scored the lone goal as the Jets outshot the Knights 47-23.

Daniel Miscavish made 21 saves in goal for the Jets.

For the MJDP, Freddy Soderberg (pictured below) stopped 49 shots to go along with goals from Tommy Purton and Carson Finney.

The Jets play the Toledo Cherokee Sunday at 1 p.m. to open the quarterfinal round.

All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com.

HUDSON, N.H. – The Metro Jets advanced to the quarterfinals of the USPHL National Tournament with a 7-4 win Friday night over the Islanders Hockey Club at Cyclones Arena.

The MJDP, meanwhile, saw their hopes of moving on dim with a 4-0 setback to the Northern Cyclones.

Seven different players scored for the Jets and Louis-Pierre Fortier made 31 saves in goal.

Austin Ieuter, Devon Mastay (pictured front) and Chad Noetzel all had a goal and an assist while Dakota Kott registered two assists.

“Much better start to the game tonight,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “We had a lot of jump and we created a lot of chances putting IHC on their heels. Our group just kept getting better and more hungry as the game progressed, but obviously the penalty trouble in the second period took away a lot momentum we had and allowed them back in the game.

“Whether the calls were warranted or not, we can’t allow our emotions to get the better of us at this time of year, so that was the message going into the third period. We refocused and finished the game the right way.”

Cristian Adragna, Anders Grongstad, Kam Hellman and Alex Schaumburger added single goals for the Jets.

For the MJDP, goalie Freddy Soderberg stopped 54 shots in suffering the loss.

Both teams wrap up round robin play Saturday at Cyclones Arena as the Jets take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights at 3:30 p.m., followed by the MJDP playing the Charlotte Rush at 8:45 p.m.

All games are available at HockeyTV.com.

HUDSON, N.H. – The Metro Jets opened up the 2022 USPHL National Tournament Thursday at Cyclones Arena with a record-breaking win, while the MJDP stumbled in its opening game.

The Jets downed the Florida Jr. Blades 2-0 as Will Augustine pitched his 12th career USPHL shutout, making 29 saves to set the record for combined regular-season and playoff shutouts.

Cristain Adragna netted both goals for the Jets and Niko Murgic assisted on both.

“We took step 1 today,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “I think there were definitely some nerves early in the game from both teams and it took us a little while to find a way to harness that nervous energy the right way.

“Once we got our power play going and found the net, we settled in and we were able to tilt the ice in our favor the rest of the game. We would have like to have converted more on some of our better scoring chances, especially in the second period to put the game away, but we will take the win any way we can at this time of year.

“We need to refocus now and start preparing for the next opponent.”

Former Jets goaltender Sal Carabelli was sharp for the Jr. Blades in stopping 35 shots.

Later Thursday, the MJDP lost 4-1 to the Utah Outliers.

“The boys come out hard and played with some intensity, and we put them on their heels for the first 10 minutes but just couldn’t capitalize,” said Jets assistant coach Tina Ciraulo. “We had a couple breakdowns that cost us, but it looked like we were back in it with that power-play goal to make it a 2-1 game. We need to try to keep tilting the ice and getting more shots through.

“Overall, the boys pushed for 60 minutes but it just didn’t go our way tonight.”

Alex Blankenship scored the lone goal for the MJDP and Freddy Soderberg finished with 32 saves.

Both teams continue round robin play Friday back at Cyclones Arena, with the MJDP taking on the Northern Cyclones at 3:30 p.m. and the Jets playing the Islanders Hockey Club at 8:30 p.m.

All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com.

For the second straight year, the Metro Jets organization will be alone in sending two USPHL Premier teams to the USPHL Nationals Presented By GMU Sport.

Along with their namesake Metro Jets team that finished No. 2 in winning percentage in the league, the Jets also send the Metro Jets Development Program for a second straight season. The MJDP fared very well in its 2021 debut, going 2-1, and they will look to once again make noise as the Jets organization attacks from two sides.

Quenneville spoke about the youth of his program, as they are the fourth-youngest squad moving on to the tournament this week, and how well these young players bought into what the Jets organization presented as a model for success.

“This is exciting for us to make a return to Nationals,” said General Manager Justin Quenneville. “They have bought in all year, and we focused on stability in the line up. Even though we have an inexperienced group, they faced challenges all year and found ways to overcome. Being resilient is a strength for this group.”

The Metro Jets Development Program was able to taste success in their two playoff rounds, and were one of just two teams (the National-bound Hudson Havoc being the other) to play in six playoff games before heading to the “big dance.” They defeated Decatur and Fort Wayne, the latter in a series where MJDP was the visiting/lower-seeded team.

They are definitely tested, and with so much postseason hockey already on film, there’s a lot of fresh material to go over on film and in practice.

“We will touch on some in-game details in practice, but our process allowed us the opportunity to get to Nationals. So preparation has not been a one-week model for us, it’s been building and developing players all year,” said Quenneville. “Now they get the opportunity to put it to the test against some of the best teams in the country.

“We will make some minor adjustments to help prepare our group on the ice. We have some significantly older opponents in front of us and will need to be consistent with our game plan,” added Quenneville. “Being together all year helps eliminate any chemistry issues on our end as well.”

Metro Jets Development Program

Regular Season: 28-16-0-0, 56 points

Round Robin Schedule

All Games At Cyclones Arena, Hudson, N.H.

All Times EST

Game 1: Thursday, March 24, vs. Utah Outliers, 6:15 p.m.

Game 2: Friday, March 25, vs. Northern Cyclones, 3:30 p.m.

Game 3: Saturday, March 26, vs. Charlotte Rush, 8:45 p.m.

Team Notes

Regular Season

• MJDP won their last eight regular season games before going 2-1 against the Decatur Blaze in the playoffs.

• MJDP was fifth in fewest penalty minutes with 10.93 per game.

• MJDP was 13-8-0-0 this year at home for 26 points, though they had more (30 points) as the away team this year.

Playoffs

• MJDP is tied with the Hudson Havoc for most playoff games heading into Nationals, with six apiece.

• MJDP won all three games in which they scored the first goal (and obviously one additional game in which they did not).

Player Notes

Regular Season

• MJDP’s Josh Boze had a 2-9-11 line in scoring points over his last seven. Samuel Westerberg (4-3-7) and Carson Finney (3-7-10) also had four-game scoring streaks at the end of the year.

• MJDP’s Steven Miller was second in shorthanded goals in the Premier with six.

Playoffs

• Alex Blankenship was tied for the league lead in shorthanded assists, at four (with Brenden Yingling, of National-bound Richmond). Blankenship was the sole leader among defensemen in this category, and he also led all Premier blueliners in playoff shorthanded points (four).

• Royal St-Cyr was one of four players – all National-bound – with a league-leading two game-winning goals in the playoffs.

• Freddy Soderberg was fifth in minutes played at 252, and third among National-bound goalies.

The Metro Jets and the USPHL Nationals have been one and the same ever since the Jets found their way to the first postseason in 2019.

In Year 1, the Jets made it to the National Championship game. Although they lost the chance to contend for a title in Year 2 when COVID-19 forced the cancellation of that year’s Nationals, they came back as the No. 1 overall seed in 2021, and that year they were joined by the Metro Jets Development Program.

The Jets and MJDP are back at it again when they move on to the USPHL Nationals Presented By GMU Sport at Cyclones Arena in Hudson, N.H., March 24-29.

The Jets were one of three teams enjoying time at the top of the USPHL Premier late in the season. They finished with a 39-4-1-0 record, and 79 points, just one point behind the eventual regular season champion WBS Knights. As far as General Manager/Head Coach Justin Quenneville is concerned, his team can go long because at Nationals everyone starts out 0-0.

“If we play our game, we are good at dictating the pace in our favor,” said Quenneville. “We have versatility in our game, good puck management and three No. 1 goalies behind us. Obviously everyone has had success to get to Nationals, so everyone will have depth and scoring, including us.”

And no one had more scoring in the Premier than the Jets – they led in goals with 327, or 7.23 per game. Flip over the record, and they also had the top defense, giving up just 67 or 1.52 goals per game. Firewagon hockey going one way, shutdown defense the other direction. Many of the Jets have been wearing the jersey for two years, no less than about half the team – 11 to be exact. Nick Ceccarini is a fourth-year Jet and Joshua German is in Year 3.

“Our group has been together all year, so this time of year for a team like us is about getting healthy and prepared for our opponents,” Quenneville said. “We will touch on some in-game details and habits to help our guys stay on point.”

It’s been over 24 weeks since the puck dropped on the 2021-22 season. The Jets obviously found their rhythm early, going 20-0 between September and November. Losing only four times in regulation and once in OT, there really isn’t much to fix, so the Jets certainly feel confident keeping their routine and program.

“We are not really changing our preparation this week from any other. Our guys are hungry and have been for a long time,” said Quenneville. “Fortunately with our team being together all year, we don’t have that challenge of needing to build chemistry. We are just counting down the days to next week and have been since last year.”

Metro Jets

Regular Season: 39-4-1-0, 79 points

Round Robin Schedule

All Games At Cyclones Arena, Hudson, N.H.

All Times EST

Game 1: Thursday, March 24, vs. Florida Jr. Blades, 1 p.m.

Game 2: Friday, March 25, vs. Islanders Hockey Club, 8:30 p.m.

Game 3: Saturday, March 26, vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights, 3:30 p.m.

Team Notes

Regular Season

• At 20-1-0-0, the Jets had 40 points on home ice, the fourth best points total in the league. The Jets outscored opponents by a better than 5:1 ratio on home ice as well (146-27).

• Only once did the Jets lose a game when they scored the first goal, going 32-1 in that situation for a league-best .970 winning percentage.

• Metro led the Premier Division in four goal and shot categories – first in goals for (7.43), goals against (1.52), and first in shots for (48.20) and shots against (21.45). Their goals against average was more than four goals better than their closest competition. Overall, they outscored their opposition 326-67.

• Metro was a league-best 29-0-0-0 when leading after one period and 34-0-0-0 when leading after two periods. They were also a league-best 37-2-1-0 when out-shooting an opponent.

Playoffs

• During the playoffs, the Jets will look for revenge against the WBS Knights, who defeated them 4-1 at the USPHL Winter Showcase.

• On Nov. 18, the Jets defeated the Islanders Hockey Club, 3-1.

• In their only meeting ever, at the 2019 Nationals, the Jets and Florida Jr. Blades tied 2-2.

• The Jets rank third in goals for per game during the playoffs with 7.00.

• In total, the Jets outscored the Vengeance 4-1 in both the first and third periods, and 6-2 in the second, maintaining a consistent attack.

• Their best shooting ratio (of greater than 2:1) came in the second periods of their games, where they outshot the Vengeance 30-14.

Player Notes

Regular Season

• Metro’s Braydin Lewis came away with 45 points to rank sixth in defenseman scoring in the USPHL Premier, and he was tied for third in assists with 36.

• Alex Schaumburger’s 21-game point streak that saw him post 43 points from the start of the Jets’ season to December was the league’s longest for the 2021-22 season.

• Metro’s Tim Washburn finished the season with a 3-5-8 scoring line in his last five games played, and Nick Ceccarini registered assists in his last three games.

• All three Jets goaltenders were on winning streaks of at least three games to end the season, led by Daniel Miscavish’s seven in a row.

Playoffs

• Will Augustine and Louis Pierre-Fortier improved to winning streaks of five and four combined regular season and playoff games, respectively.

• Chad Noetzel led the way in team scoring in the playoffs with 2-4-6 in the two contests against the Vengeance.

• Dakota Kott had 4-3-7 totals in five consecutive regular season and playoff games, and Austin Ieuter had 1-4-5 in the same five.

• Cody Mastay has a run of 2-6-8 in his last four combined games, and Tim Washburn went 4-5-9 in his last five games. He finished the season with two game-winners in the space of three games, including the season-ending OT GWG against Columbus.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The MJDP is off to the USPHL National Tournament, defeating the Fort Wayne Spacemen today 3-2 in the deciding Game 3 at the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse.

Nolan Bruxvoort’s goal at 9:58 proved to be the game-winning tally, and Freddy Soderberg finished with 43 saves to help the MJDP come back after losing 8-0 Saturday night.

“Very proud of this group,” said Metro Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “The road to success is paved with a lot bumps and potholes, and anyone from Detroit knows what I’m talking about, so it’s only fitting for this Detroit-based program to surrender an embarrassing loss the way we did last night but learn from it and come back here today with a full team effort to take the series. We had some luck today, for sure, but you need some to win in the playoffs, but we also earned our luck and ultimately this win.

“There’s still plenty of work to be done as we prepare this group for the national tournament but right now, we will let them enjoy this moment for a day or two.”

Austin Combs scored in the first period and Royal St-Cyr added a goal in the second period for the MJDP.

“This means a lot,” said Soderberg. “The whole team worked really hard for this all year and it’s just great to see us get the win today and move on. Last night was definitely difficult for us, but we just got a pretty angry and realized our backs were against the wall and we had nothing to lose.

“We’re definitely going to enjoy this, but we know we have to get back to work and get ready for the best teams in the league at nationals.”

The Spacemen outshot the MJDP 45-40, with Mikhail Melnikov making 37 saves for Fort Wayne.

With the win, the MJDP now joins the Jets at USPHL Nationals, which start Thursday, March 24 in Hudson, N.H.

“Since we started the season, it’s always been our goal to get to nationals, and being able to win today was a very special moment for the team,” Combs said. “We knew we didn’t play our game last night and that wasn’t our team. Today, we came together as a team, we were hard on pucks, had the energy. It was all just there today and we know what we are capable of.

“Today was our day.”

The full schedule for nationals will be finalized once all playoff series are complete.

All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com.

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – The Metro Jets and Pittsburgh Vengeance were tied 2-2 late in the second period, only for the Jets to then rattle off seven unanswered goals to down Pittsburgh 9-2, sweeping the series and advancing to the USPHL National Tournament later this month in Hudson, N.H.

Chad Noetzel led the way with a goal and three assists, while Dakota Kott and Owen Limback each scored a pair of goals. Anders Grongstad added a goal and two assists and Jets captain Cody Mastay chipped in three assists.

“We knew this game would be tough, and we knew Pittsburgh wouldn’t let up,” Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville said. “Obviously, winning in playoffs is always going to be hard, but closing a series is always the hardest. We feel that we’ve done what we needed to do to prepare for these types of moments, but when you’re in it, the emotional ebbs and flows just become different types of challenges. Our guys did a good job holding off Pittsburgh’s push there in the second for a little but got some big saves from ‘LP’ (Jets goaltender Louis-Pierre Fortier) keeping it 2-2.

“Credit to Pittsburgh for being an opportunistic team and trying to force some plays and got a little bit lucky, but our guys responded well, and we got back to the game plan, keeping it simple.”

Andreas Fleutot had a goal and an assist, Tim Washburn and Austin Ieuter scored one each, and Cristian Adragna and Josh German tacked on two assists each.

Fortier finished with 18 saves, with Daniel Miscavish playing the final 14:14 and stopping all five shots he faced.

“Pittsburgh had that 5-7 minutes where they just came at us, and we weathered it,” said Jets defenseman Patrick Hays. “We knew from there we were going to be fine.

“We know we’re not done, and it was a little sentimental being the last home game, but we still have a long way to go. We’re going for that national championship.”

Nationals start Thursday, March 24 with the schedule forthcoming once all division playoffs across the USPHL have been completed.

Also Saturday, the Fort Wayne Spacemen evened their series with the MJDP, taking an 8-0 win at the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse. Freddy Soderberg and Ethan Ryan combined to stop 28 shots between the pipes.

The deciding Game 3 is Sunday at 12:30 p.m. back in Fort Wayne.

All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – Both the Metro Jets and MJDP teams won their respective Game 1s Friday night in their USPHL best-of-three series.

The Jets defeated the Pittsburgh Vengeance 5-2 at Mount Clemens Ice Arena and the MJDP downed the Fort Wayne Spacemen 2-1 on the road from the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse.

Cristian Adragna scored a pair of goals and Chad Noetzel scored once with an assist in the Jets’ win.

Will Augustine stopped 24 shots in goal while Owen Limback and Kam Hellman each posted two assists to go along with single goals from Devon Mastay and Alex Bedenko.

“Game 1 is done and we did what we needed to do, which was win,” said Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville. “Some areas of our game we executed well, and others we need to clean up. We addressed it and will be ready for tomorrow.”

In Fort Wayne, Steven Miller’s goal at 6:20 of the third period stood as the game winner in a 2-1 win for the MJDP.

Ethan Smith scored in the second period and Freddy Soderberg finished with 37 saves for the win between the pipes.

“We played a good solid road playoff game – it was ‘hard’ hockey,” Jets associate coach Jamie Lovell said. “We had complete buy in tonight from everyone. I thought the goalies for both teams were the story tonight. Fort Wayne’s (Mikhail Melnikov) made some big saves for them in the first two periods and Freddy, of course, came up big for us in the third when they pushed hard to get back in the game.

“I expect the same type of game tomorrow night.”

The Jets and Pittsburgh drop the puck at 3:30 p.m. and the MJDP and Fort Wayne face off at 5:30 p.m.

All USPHL games are on HockeyTV.com.

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – The MJDP is off to the second round of the USPHL playoffs after winning its best-of-three series this past weekend over the Decatur Blaze on home ice at Mount Clemens Ice Arena.

Friday night, Royal St-Cyr had two goals and an assist and Tommy Purton a goal and three assists in a 7-2 victory.

Nick Twombley went for a goal and two assists and Sam Westerberg added a goal and an assist to go along with two assists from Joey Carpenter and Robert Grasso.

In goal, Mason Kelly made 32 saves and Vincent Westman and Ethan Smith also scored for the MJDP.

Decatur came back for a 3-2 win Saturday night.

Purton and Twombley netted third-period goals in the loss and Freddy Soderberg finished with 22 saves.

Wrapping up Sunday afternoon, Soderberg pitched an 11-save shutout as the MJDP blanked Decatur 7-0.

Grasso and Twombley each had a goal and two assists, Alex Blankenship chipped in with four assists, and Purton, Carpenter, Josh Boze and Ville Karlsson all contributed a goal and an assist.

St-Cyr added a goal as well.

This weekend, the MJDP heads on the road to play another best-of-three series with the Fort Wayne Spacemen from the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse. Game times are 7:30 p.m. Friday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday and, if needed, 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com.

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – Tim Washburn’s goal at 4:25 of overtime completed the Metro Jets’ comeback Saturday night in a thrilling 3-2 win over the Columbus Mavericks at the OhioHealth Chiller North.

Jets captain Cody Mastay had tied the game at 19:12 of the third period after Columbus took the lead seven minutes earlier.

“We certainly were not at our best as a team this weekend, but we found a way,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. I’m glad we got two wins and can now turn our “focus to preparing for the playoffs.”

Dakota Kott opened the scoring for the Jets in the first period before the Mavericks responded.

Jets goalie Louis-Pierre Fortier finished with 38 saves as the Jets outshot Columbus 45-40.

Kott and Mastay also added assists for multi-point games.

In the opener of the home-and-home series Friday night at Mount Clemens Ice Arena, Will Augustine made 17 saves to tie the USPHL all-time shutouts record with 11 in the Jets’ 7-0 shutout against Columbus.

Cristian Adragna had a goal and two assists, while Anders Grongstad netted a pair of goals and Mastay and Andreas Fleutot went for a goal and an assist apiece.

Jets forward Nick Ceccarini played in his USPHL regular-season record 172nd game and picked up an assist on Grongstad’s first goal.

Kam Hellman and Dakota Kott added goals and Washburn chipped in two assists.

The Jets have a first-round bye for the upcoming USPHL playoffs and will host the winner of the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones/Pittsburgh Vengeance the weekend of March 11-13 at Mount Clemens Ice Arena.

The MJDP grabbed four points of their own with a home-and-home sweep of the Motor City Hockey Club.

Starting off Friday night at Redford Ice Arena, Carson Finney popped two goals and added an assist and Owen Ott scored twice in an 11-1 win.

Vincent Westman and Sam Westerberg each tallied a goal and two assists and Freddy Soderberg made 11 saves to get the win between the pipes.

Jackson Moleski, Alex Blankenship, Tommy Purton, Joey Demitchell and Robert Grasso also scored one goal each.

“The team played well,” said Jets associate coach Dan Pszenyczny. “Both games started a little slow but we made some adjustments and started to dictate the pace of the games.
Freddy and Ethan (Ryan) both played good in net. All four lines were rolling and contributing, and all the ‘D’ this weekend played well. It was a good weekend to get us going next week for playoffs.”

Wrapping up Saturday night at Mount Clemens Ice Arena, Steven Miller had two goals and three assists and Ryan made 13 saves in a 6-1 victory.

Nolan Bruxvoort had two goals and an assist and Austin Combs tacked on three assists.

Josh Boze added a goal and an assist, Finney had two helpers, and Joey Carpenter scored.

The MJDP will host the Decatur Blaze next weekend at Mount Clemens Ice Arena to open the playoffs. The schedule will be announced shortly.

“We would just like to congratulate everyone in the Metro Jets program on another incredible and successful season,” Lovell said. “Obviously, the time and effort that’s put in by the coaching staff and players gets a lot of credit, but none of this is possible without the help of all the game-day volunteers and staff, billet families, all the staff from Mount Clemens Ice Arena, and of course, our team owner Pete Cammick.

“We are all looking forward to continuing our success into the playoffs.”

All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com.