WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. – The Metro Jets, MJDP and Metro Jets Elite teams all kicked off 2024 at the USPHL Tampa Showcase, which was held Jan. 3-6 at AdventHealth Center Ice.
The Jets defeated the Florida Eels 10-3, Atlanta Mad Hatters 4-0 and Charlotte Rush 3-2 in a shootout and also fell to the host Tampa Bay Juniors 4-3 in a shootout.
The MJDP team downed the Jersey Hitmen 3-2 in overtime and the Palm Beach Typhoon 6-3 and suffered losses to the Bold City Battalion (4-3 in a shootout) and Carolina Jr. Hurricanes (2-0).
The Jets Elite squad beat Bold City 6-2 before falling 6-5 to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights, 2-0 to Atlanta, and 6-2 to Tampa Bay.
“We always enjoy coming down to this showcase,” said Jets head coach and general manager Justin Quenneville. “We play many showcases throughout the season and try to provide the best model for our players. With another showcase next month, it’s great for our guys to see different teams outside our division and continue to be tested as we head into the second-half stretch. Teams always bring their best against us, and we represented well. Having success against top competition is important, but not as much as the exposure and opportunities that our players continue to receive. Tampa did a great job again this year and we look forward to returning next year.
“Overall, we are really proud how our guys played given the amount of injuries and illnesses we had. Everyone stepped up and played hard and we credit our preparation as well our guys buying in.”
In particular, the Jets-Rush game had many eyeballs watching, and the contest turned out to be an instant classic between two perennial junior hockey powerhouses.
Mason Cole scored the game’s first two goals before Peter Keese and Jared Weisert scored 3:23 apart in the second period for Charlotte.
The third period and overtime solved nothing, taking the game to a shootout.
Jets goalie Taylor White stopped all three shots he faced, and Tyler Bautko beat Rush goalie Rocco Stolz in the second round to secure the win.
“This is why we come to these showcases, to give our guys the best environment and chance to showcase their talents against the top competition,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “Very proud of how we handled ourselves throughout the entire four games of this event and especially during this last game against Charlotte. That felt like a playoff game. We had a lot of guys banged up and playing through injuries, but you wouldn’t know it by the way we came out with speed and put the pressure on Charlotte right from the drop of the puck. Credit to them for coming back to tie it up – that’s why Charlotte is who they are. They’re never going to fold or give up, but we knew we deserved the two points based on our play today. It took a full team effort from ‘Whitey’ on out.
“Now we will get back home, take some much-needed rest, heal up, and then get back to work developing our players and prepare for in-division games coming up.”
This week, the Jets play the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones Thursday at 3 p.m. on the road from the Queen City Sportsplex before hosting the Nashville Spartans Friday at 7 p.m. from Mount Clemens Ice Arena. The MJDP hosts the Motor City Gamblers Thursday at 12:30 p.m., and the Jets Elite hosts Motor City Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.
All USPHL games are available on FloHockey.tv.
