CHESAPEAKE, Va. – The MJDP improved to 1-1 at USPHL Nationals Friday night while the Metro Jets fell to 0-2 in a pair of games played at the Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex.

With the 5-2 win over the Minnesota Blue Ox, the MJDP has a chance to make the semifinals depending on what happens Saturday.

Winless after losing 4-2 to the Northern Cyclones, the Jets’ season will come to a close after their third round-robin game Saturday afternoon.

Joey Mocnik scored twice with an assist for the MJDP to go along with a goal and an assist from Tim Washburn and single goals from Herman Ahokas and captain Brayden Tayles.

In goal, Daniel Miscavish made 27 saves for the victory and Max Hartwell posted two assists from the blue line.

“Great bounce-back game for this group,” Jets associate coach Jamie Lovell said. “They did their job and got the win. We still need help tomorrow but all we can ask of our guys is to focus on what they can control, and they did that.

“Would have been nice to score a few more goals, as we know it’s going to come down to a tiebreaker with that being a factor. Focus on tomorrow, and you never know what can happen.”

Down 4-0 after allowing three power-play goals, Cristian Adragna and Will Jentz scored in the third period for the Jets and Louis-Pierre Fortier steered aside 23 shots in net.

“Unfortunate way to end your season,” said Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville. “Formats like this don’t reward the strongest, but ultimately, we didn’t take care of business when we needed to. You need some puck luck, some calls, some saves and some goals. We got none of it. It’s not an excuse, it’s just unfortunate and our guys deserved a better fate. We do have an important game to finish on a high note tomorrow.”

“We are disappointed, obviously,” added Lovell. “We hadn’t lost back-to-back games all season long so we picked the wrong time of year to have an off couple days.

“I’m proud of what our guys accomplished this season. It’s a tough tournament to win and you have to be at your best in this type of format. The best team doesn’t necessarily win, the team that plays the best wins, and yesterday and today we didn’t play our best, far from it, really.”

The Jets play the Charleston Colonials Saturday at 1:20 p.m., followed by the MJDP and New York Aviators at 4 p.m.

All tournament games are streamed on HockeyTV.com.

Midwest East 1st Seed

31-8-3-2 (67 points)

MJDP enters the National Championship tournament as the top team from the Midwest East Division. They could surprise at Nationals as the division was clearly deeper than in the past, as witnessed by some exciting playoff series.

After drawing a bye through the first round, MJDP entered against the Detroit Fighting Irish and quickly found themselves facing some serious adversity when the Irish grabbed a win in the first contest.

“In a short series playoff format like this, anything can happen,” said MJDP General Manager Justin Quenneville in an email interview. “We didn’t see much of them during the season because of our schedule [The Irish were the lone Midwest East to take part in Hub City Tampa].

“Undoubtedly, their goaltender stood on his head. It was just a matter of time before we took care of business and secured the series. Even though we significantly outshot and outchanced our opponent, they had a little more luck in Game 1 and snuck out a win. Our guys collected themselves and brought another level in Games 2 and 3.”

Adversity is nothing new to this squad. Quenneville says they have become accustomed to overcoming long odds.

“Our guys faced adversity all year, “ said Quenneville. “We play a tough schedule with so many out of division games and our guys know there are always tough games ahead. Midway through the year we had some big time wins against Pittsburgh, Chicago and Minnesota Blue Ox which showed people we are here to stay.

“That preparation and training helped our guys down the stretch when they faced some opponents who [bolstered] their lineups,” he added. “In the end, winning our division and sticking to the process here our group continued to build character and get stronger which paid off. Having a tight race down the stretch to ultimately win the division helped our guys stay focused as well.”

Having a tough schedule like that and feeling it has something to prove could be beneficial for MJDP with the big games coming up.

“Our guys play in your face and with a chip on their shoulder. We have balance in the lineup, play physical, fast, and when we are disciplined, we are a hard team to play against,” said Quenneville. “Being one of the younger teams in the league, our guys have collectively raised their maturity and approach to the game throughout the year.”

MJDP 2021 USPHL Premier Nationals Schedule:

(All games at Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex, Chesapeake, Va.)

Thurs., March 18, vs. Florida Eels, 10:40 a.m.

Fri., March 19, vs. Minnesota Blue Ox, 9:20 p.m.

Sat., March 20, vs. New York Aviators, 4 p.m.

Great Lakes Division 1st Seed

38-4-1-0 (77 points)

The Jets clinched the Great Lakes Division title again with a few weeks to spare but continued to battle for the overall league regular season title, which the Jets also collected with a single point margin on the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings.

One of the perks of finishing among the top two in its division was a first-round bye, and the organization’s GM Justin Quenneville said the rest came in handy.

“We approached the bye week with the best approach for our group. Balance between getting back to 100 percent and touching on details to prepare for our next opponent,” said Quenneville in an email interview. “We make necessary adjustments once our opponent is determined, but we ultimately don’t stray away from our model of practice and preparation.”

Quenneville said preparing for playoffs began in the final month of the season.

“Even though we clinched our division several weeks before playoffs, we approached each weekend set with playoffs on our minds. Our guys did a great job of continuing to buy in down the stretch and were rewarded with a series win against the Mavericks. Columbus is a hard-working team that play a structured style game. They just won a big three game series against Lake Erie and that confidence can be dangerous for an opponent sitting around waiting.”

When a team wins all but five games, there are no real low points or turning points on a season, but a tough schedule at the Chicago Showcase just before Christmas allowed the team a chance to test its mettle against some tougher competition.

“It was our first opportunity to play more out of division games against tough opponents in a difficult format,” said Quenneville. “Our guys did a great job taking that next step as a group to not take any game for granted. We had some big character wins against Wisconsin and Northern Colorado that gave us drive to come back from break with more purpose. We are fortunate that our scheduled opponents throughout never allow us to take a night off. So, every week presents a new challenge, and we focus on that task one game at a time.”

The team will continue to be prepared when it takes the ice at Chilled Ponds Thursday, said Quenneville adding the time for teaching is over.

“With a short work week, we will touch on some in-game habits and situations,” said the coach. “But this time of year, every team at Nationals is prepared and fired up. Our job now is to get our guys to Virginia for Game 1.”

Metro Jets 2021 USPHL Premier Nationals Schedule

(All games at Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex, Chesapeake, Va.)

Thurs., March 18, vs. Elmira Jr. Enforcers, 8:10 a.m.

Fri., March 19, vs. Northern Cyclones, 6:40 p.m.

Sat., March 20, vs. Charleston Colonials, 1:20 p.m.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. – The Metro Jets and MJDP teams began the USPHL Nationals Thursday with a pair of defeats at the Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex.

The Jets opened with a 4-2 loss to the Elmira Jr. Enforcers and the MJDP fell 6-1 to the Florida Eels.

“It’s unfortunate we didn’t execute and bear down on our chances,” Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville said of the Jets’ loss to Elmira. “Plain and simple, you need to win and do whatever it takes. Our guys learned a very quick and hard lesson about that, and I know they will respond with the best performance and effort of the year tomorrow.

“They have no choice.”

Braydin Lewis and Nathan Vazquez (pictured front) scored to stake the Jets to a 2-0 lead in the first period before Elmira scored four unanswered goals.

Will Augustine finished with 22 saves in taking the loss in goal for the Jets.

Against Florida, Joey Mocnik (pictured below) scored a power-play goal midway through the third period for the lone MJDP goal and Caden Fisher made 26 stops between the pipes.

“We came out well, and I liked our energy, but then we took a couple penalties that took away any momentum we were generating and ultimately cost us two goals,” Jets associate coach Jamie Lovell said. “From that point on, we were chasing the game and couldn’t recover.

“No room for error now. We have to win and need some help from others if this group still wants to advance.”

Both teams continue pool play Friday with the Jets playing the Northern Cyclones at 6:40 p.m. and the MJDP playing the Minnesota Blue Ox at 9:20 p.m.

All games at the tournament are being streamed on HockeyTV.com.

FRASER, Mich. – The MJDP will join the Metro Jets at next week’s USPHL Nationals after a come-from-behind 3-1 win Saturday night over the Detroit Fighting Irish in the deciding Game 3 of their playoff series at Fraser Hockeyland.

Tim Washburn scored what proved to be the game-winner at 11:57 of the third period, with Kam Hellman adding his second of the game for insurance at 18:37.

“It was pretty much a normal shift, low to high, low to high, keep the puck low,” said Washburn. “Max (Hartwell) got the puck up high and we do tips every day at practice. I got (position) on the guy in front of the net and the goalie just missed that one.”

Caden Fisher made 23 saves in goal for the win, while Daniel McCarthy stopped 37 for the Fighting Irish in suffering the defeat.

Hartwell posted two assists on the night and Washburn added an assist for a two-point game.

Detroit captain Clay Hightower gave the visitors an early 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 6:35 of the first period.

“It was impressive, to be honest,” Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville said on the MJDP rebounding to win two straight after losing Game 1 on Thursday night. “I felt like our guys did a great job of taking advantage of their opportunities this year. They got better every week, and their record spoke volumes of that, but I think that gave them the wiggle room to hit a little bit of adversity over the last month.

“Ultimately, with teams getting stronger and adding players down the stretch and trying to get wins, we stayed loyal to our guys and stuck to the game plan.”

Both the Jets and MJDP teams will now head to Hampton Roads, Va., next week for the national tournament. More information will be available soon at MetroJetsHockey.com and on the team’s social media accounts.

All games at USPHL Nationals will be streamed on HockeyTV.com.

/LEWIS CENTER, Ohio – The Metro Jets punched their ticket to the USPHL National Tournament Friday night with a 5-1 win over the Columbus Mavericks at the OhioHealth Chiller North, sweeping the best-of-three series.

Columbus scored first, with Brandon Edwards getting on the board and boosting the Mavericks to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

In the second period, Conner Graham (pictured front) led the way offensively with two goals, while Cristian Adragna, Nick Ceccarini and Joey Johnson scored one each in a 7:22 span.

“I didn’t like our start, we just seemed a little off, and Columbus capitalized,” Jets associate coach Jamie Lovell said. “The series-clinching win is always the hardest one to get. You’re ending a team’s season and they’re not going to just lay down. We regrouped after the first period and came out with one of our best periods all year, and that ultimately made the difference in the game.”

Louis-Pierre Fortier made 22 saves in goal for the win.

“I definitely think we came out flat and not ready, but we came in after the first, regrouped, and came out playing our game,” Graham said. “A quick goal in the first shifted the momentum right away, and it just continued for four more. I think it’s huge to come into nationals on a winning streak and having the momentum of winning two straight.”

Alex Toth and Tyler Dorion combined to make 43 saves in the Columbus net.

The Jets now head to Hampton Roads, Va., next week to play in the USPHL National Tournament for the third straight year.

“I’m excited for this group, they’ve played well all season, but there’s more work to be done,” Lovell said. “We will enjoy it tonight but then refocus Monday as we prepare for the national tournament.”

At Fraser Hockeyland Friday night, Caden Fisher pitched a 29-save shutout as the MJDP evened its series with the Detroit Fighting Irish at 1-all with a 3-0 win (pictured below).

Patrick Hays and Nick Twombley each had a goal and an assist, while Kam Hellman also scored and Herman Ahokas contributed a pair of assists.

Detroit goalie Daniel McCarthy stopped 35 shots in suffering the defeat between the pipes.

The deciding Game 3 is Saturday night at Fraser with an 8 p.m. puck drop.

All USPHL games are streamed on HockeyTV.com.

FRASER, Mich. – The Metro Jets are one win away from advancing to USPHL Nationals after a 6-2 win over the Columbus Mavericks Thursday night at Fraser Hockeyland in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.

Nick Ceccarini and Cristian Adragna scored two goals each while Anders Grongstad added a goal and an assist to back Will Augustine’s 18 saves in goal.

“The boys came out strong and throughout the whole game, we never took our foot off the gas,” said Ceccarini. “All 60 minutes of the game, we were all over them and we just never let up.”

Will Jentz also scored, to go along with three assists from Joey Johnson and two assists each out of Ryan Messing and Cody Mastay.

“I think our guys managed the puck pretty well and the line of Grongstad, Messing and Ceccarini looked really good,” added Jets associate coach Jamie Lovell. “It was a good effort and I think we’re set here for tomorrow night.”

Tyler Dorion made 36 saves for the Mavericks and Jordan Winrod and Sam Adler scored.

Game 2 is Friday night at the OhioHealth Chiller North. Opening faceoff is set for 8:30 p.m.

“We’re expecting pushback from Columbus,” Ceccarini said. “We’re not expecting an easy game and we’ll go in there with full force.”

The MJDP faltered in their playoff opener Thursday night, losing 4-3 to the Detroit Fighting Irish at Fraser Hockeyland in a back-and-forth game that saw Christopher Hawkins net the game-winner for Detroit with 6:51 to play in the third period.

Jake Aslanian had a goal and an assist and Kam Hellman and Patrick Hays notched goals as Daniel Miscavish finished with 22 saves between the pipes.

“It’s a loss whether we lose the game 4-3 or 7-1,” Lovell said. “You have to win two games to win a series and the guys will come back here tomorrow ready to go. Their season is on the line.”

Zach Frescura scored two goals for Detroit while Bradley Scott also scored and goaltender Daniel McCarthy made 35 saves.

Game 2 between the MJDP and Fighting Irish is Friday night at 8 p.m. back at Fraser.

All USPHL playoff games are streamed on HockeyTV.com.

FRASER, Mich. – As the snow starts to melt and the temperatures begin to warm up in Michigan, that means one thing.

USPHL playoffs.

Both the Metro Jets and MJDP teams qualified for the postseason this year and after first-round byes last weekend after finishing first in their respective divisions during the regular season, each team starts its run to a national championship Thursday at Fraser Hockeyland.

The Jets play the Columbus Mavericks while the MJDP will take on the Detroit Fighting Irish in best-of-three series. The MJDP plays Game 1 at 4:30 p.m. and the Jets follow after at 7:30 p.m.

“This is best time of the year and why our program prepares for opportunities like this,” said Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville. “Everyone will need to contribute and commit to playing the right way moving forward. Our guys have done a good job getting into the right mindset leading up to playoffs, and we are all excited for this weekend. First place does not exist in playoffs, and our guys know that. We begin the next challenge, and our guys will be ready from the drop of the puck.”

“We’re excited for both groups to get going,” added Jets associate coach Jamie Lovell. “It was nice to have a break to heal and rest any minor ailments, but now it’s time to get focused and prepared this week for Columbus and DFI. It doesn’t matter that we had winning records against them during the regular season. Both opponents are coming off of series victories so they will be confident heading into our series.

“We think we’ve done a good job preparing our guys for that mindset and we are excited to get things going Thursday for Game 1 in each series.”

Both teams’ captains have their respective squads ready to go.

“I expect Detroit to be physical and hardworking,” said Jets forward Brayden Tayles, wearing the ‘C’ for the MJDP. “It’s playoff hockey now and every team we face is going to be on their ‘A’ game doing everything they can to win.

“In order to win this series, we have to execute and play our game. We need that playoff mindset, of course, and we need to play full 60-minute games. We have worked all season for this, and now it’s time to rely on our habits that we have built in practice. Most importantly, we have to outwork and simply want it more than our opponents.”

Jets defenseman Matt Cruz, like Tayles, is a three-year veteran of the program and wants to play deep into March.

“We are expecting Columbus to come out hard this weekend like every team would in playoff hockey,” Cruz said. “If we dial in and play the hockey we’ve been playing the whole season, nobody will be able to step in our way.

“To win the series we just need to come out hard and continue to press on them all game. We’ve been playing our best hockey coming into this point of the season, and we are ready to go through anybody that tries to stop us.”

During the regular season, the Jets went 6-0-0 against Columbus and the MJDP finished 3-0-0 versus Detroit.

Columbus defeated the Lake Erie Bighorns two games to one in the opening round last weekend while the Fighting Irish swept the Decatur Blaze in two straight games.

The winners of the two series this weekend will then travel to Hampton Roads, Va., for USPHL Nationals, which run March 18-22.

All USPHL games will be streamed on HockeyTV.com.

Reference: [ https://www.metrojetshockey.com/news_article/show/1151388 ]

LEWIS CENTER, Ohio – For the second time in three years, the Metro Jets are the USPHL Premier regular-season champions.

The Jets cemented their spot atop the standings with a resounding 9-2 win over the Columbus Mavericks Friday night at the OhioHealth Chiller North, finishing the regular season 38-4-1.

“It was a great game,” said Jets associate coach Dan Pszenyczny. “We came out focused and with a purpose. We took control of the game from the start and played 60 minutes of smart hockey.”

Ryan Messing (pictured front) collected two goals and two assists, while Nick Ceccarini went for two goals and an assist, Matt Cole a goal and two assists and Nathan Vazquez three helpers in the win.

Metro played the last two periods without defenseman Joey Johnson, who was checked into the boards late in the first period and taken to a local medical facility. All tests were negative.

“The boys responded well after Johnny’s injury,” said Ceccarini. “We all used what happened as fuel to stay fired up and on top for the remainder of the game.”

Alec Lindecker added a goal and an assist for the Jets, and Anders Grongstad and Joey Carpenter scored to back Louis-Pierre Fortier’s (pictured below) 26 saves in goal.

Philippe Angervil and Egor Taran scored for Columbus, while starting goalie Tyler Dorion was chased at 12:39 of the first period after the Jets’ fourth goal. Dorion and Alex Toth combined to make 45 saves.

Next up for the Jets is the USPHL postseason, where they’ll enter as the top overall seed.

“We ended the regular season off very strong with a couple of big wins,” Ceccarini said. “The boys and myself are going to keep our energy going and bring it into the playoffs.”

The playoff schedule will be announced next week.

FRASER, Mich. – The MJDP used two goals each from Kam Hellman and Mitch Forton to defeat the Detroit Fighting Irish 7-1 Wednesday afternoon at Fraser Hockeyland.

Coming into the game just 2-5-0 in February, the MJDP rebounded nicely in front of Caden Fisher, who finished with 21 saves.

“This game was a confidence booster for us to get some goals,” said Metro Jets associate coach Jamie Lovell. “We’ve played 5-6 games lately where we can’t get over that 2-3 goal hump. It was nice that we could find the back of the net here today.”

Seth Beagle collected a goal and an assist while Brendan Rachfal and Alex Washburn also scored and Austin Ieuter tacked on a pair of assists.

“We’ve been in a rut, so it was good for the boys to bring it together and put a good margin on that team,” Forton said. “It was good to put up seven.”

The MJDP wraps up the regular season this Saturday and Sunday at home against the Decatur Blaze. Game times are 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

“Decatur is fighting for home-ice advantage in the playoffs and they really want that, so they’ve got a lot to play for here, and so do we,” said Lovell. “We want that first-place spot and we need these games. We want to solidify our spot at the top of this division and make sure we have that first-round bye come playoff time.”

In Pittsburgh, the Jets swept the Rockets Hockey Club with a 4-1 win at the Alpha Ice Complex.

Will Jentz posted a pair of goals and Conner Graham added a goal and three assists to back Will Augustine’s 32 saves between the pipes.

“This was one of our more complete games this season,” Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville said. “Our guys answered the challenge this week by playing one of the top programs in the country and beating them twice. They are well coached and competed hard, but we did a great job tilting the ice today and putting more pressure on their  ‘D.’ We knew they would come out hard after yesterday, but we made it hard on them to find any momentum. Our ‘D’ did a great job again limiting their chances and when we needed a save, we got them from Will.

“We got contributions from everyone today and overall, a big series for us to come out on top of here late before heading into playoffs.”

Nick Beeman also scored and Nick Ceccarini chipped in with a pair of assists.

“I think the key to the win today was our ability to tilt the ice and managing the puck in our offensive and defensive zones,” said Beeman. “It was definitely great to come out of the games with two big wins against a good team. Especially heading into playoffs, we were looking to play playoff hockey, blocking shots and handling pucks, and we did a good job of that the last two games.”

The Jets finish the regular season Friday night at the OhioHealth Chiller North in Lewis Center, Ohio, with an 8 p.m. game against the Columbus Mavericks.

Rounding out the Wednesday wins, the MHC defeated the Motor City Hockey Club 4-1 at the Redford Ice Arena.

Ethan Ryan (pictured front) made 36 saves, while Connor Hilliker and Brent Wolf had a goal and an assist and Connor Stebbins and Jack Day also scored.

“Today was a bit of a flat start for us,” Jets associate coach Dan Pszenyczny said. “The first half of the game was a bit sloppy. We were forcing and overhandling pucks in all three zones. Once we settled down, started making simple plays and found our energy, the ice started to open up for us and we took advantage of it. Ryan played a solid game in net, came up with a few big saves when we needed it, and managed the puck well.

“Hopefully, we can take the momentum from this game into tomorrow’s game.”

The MHC heads to play the Fighting Irish at the Southgate Ice Arena Thursday at 1 p.m.

All USPHL games are streamed on HockeyTV.com.