With only three weekends of action remaining before the official kickoff of the USPHL Playoffs, we want to provide a look of how things are shaping up in the Western USPHL Premier divisions and provide a brief playoff picture.
Northwest Division
Round 1: Best-of-3 Series
Week ending March 6, 2023
(1) Vernal Oilers hosts (4) Rogue Valley Royals
(2) Seattle Totems hosts (3) Rock Springs Prospectors
Round 2: Best-of-3 Series
Week ending March 13, 2023
Higher remaining seed hosts lower remaining seed
Winner advances to the Nationals (Utica, N.Y., March 23-28, 2023)
Prediction:
Vernal will host Seattle. No shockers here, at the time of this article, I believe Vernal and Seattle will come out victorious and Vernal will advance to the Nationals.
Devil’s Advocate:
-Vernal has had a lot of changes recently and lost their Captain to the FPHL, so if Rogue Valley can find a way to beat the Tarantino/Di Fiore tandem, they could shock the junior hockey world.
-Rock Springs can be hot and cold, but if Hsiao/Lednicky can get the solid defensive and offensive support in front of them, they could take down Seattle.
On The Outside Looking In:
-Bellingham Blazers: LOVE the new look, big advancement from the previous sweaters. That said, this is a very young team with a lot of excellent talent and they’re not out of it yet. If they can fight their way into that playoff spot, Vernal should be worried.
Mountain Division
Round 1: Best-of-3 Series
Week ending March 6, 2023
(3) Northern Colorado Eagles hosts (6) Provo Predators
(4) Pueblo Bulls hosts (5) Idaho Falls Spud Kings
Round 1 Prediction:
Northern Colorado and Idaho Falls advance.
Round 1 Devil’s Advocate:
-Northern Colorado has yet to pick up a third goalie … as far as this writer is aware. Should Stringer or Roussel or both get injured the Eagles will fall – SO PICK UP ANOTHER GOALIE! If the Serdiuk/Stern/Palmer trio can get stronger support in front of them and keep themselves out of the penalty box, Provo could prey on the Eagles and advance.
– Though Pueblo is on a horrifying 9-game spiral at the moment, they have amazing goaltending between Framingham State-commit Alex Timmons and back-up Swedish netminders, Björk and Sundhall. If the Bulls could put together a full game in coming weeks, they’ll be a threat come postseason … especially with home-ice advantage in the always loud and always packed Pueblo Ice Arena.
Round 2: Best-of-3 Series
Week ending March 13, 2023
(1) Utah Outliers hosts (5) Idaho Falls Spud Kings
(2) Ogden Mustangs hosts (3) Northern Colorado Eagles
Winners advance to the Nationals (Utica, N.Y., March 23-28, 2023)
Round 2 Prediction:
Utah Outliers and Northern Colorado Eagles will advance to Round 3. The Outliers are the Outliers, any opponent entering that house needs to find another gear if they wish to beat the back-to-back Mountain Division champs. If you’re familiar with the Mountain Division, you’re going to know the Eagles and Mustangs have battled in the 1st round of the playoffs the past two years running with the Eagles coming out on top both times, and I believe it’ll happen again. As a biased Mustangs fan for 8 years, I’ve watched them break my heart 2 years in a row to the Eagles — so if the Mustangs want to come out on top this time, they must find a way to get the puck past the Stringer/Roussel tandem.
Round 2 Devil’s Advocate:
-If the Eagles fail to pick up another netminder by February 12th, and an injury should befall the Stringer/Roussel tandem, a bad game or two could be their demise and the Stangs will trample them on the way to Nationals.
-Despite the Outliers being the dominant Mountain Division team for 2 years…and continuing to dominate for a 3rd, they’d be facing a completely different Idaho Falls team than the practice jersey-wearing team that entered the division and league in September. The Spud Kings want to prove something in their inaugural campaign, so Utah better be ready for the fight of their hockey lives.
Round 3: Best-of-3 Series
Week ending March 19, 2023
Higher remaining seed hosts lower remaining seed.
Winner is Division Champion
Round 3 Prediction:
Utah Outliers win 3rd Division Championship in game three OT.
Pacific Division
Round 1: Best-of-3 Series
Week ending March 6, 2023
(1) Fresno Monsters hosts (4) Ontario Jr. Reign
(2) San Diego Sabers hosts (3) Las Vegas T-Birds
Round 2: Best-of-3 Series
Week ending March 13, 2023
Higher remaining seed hosts lower remaining seed
Winner advances to the Nationals (Utica, N.Y., March 23-28, 2023)
Prediction:
Fresno will host San Diego. No shockers here, Fresno has continued to build a strong team adding critical assets such as Yuri Stalev and Heath Goldsmith, and San Diego have the dangerous Blackburn/Renden tandem in the blue paint. San Diego will then defeat the back-to-back (to back, WSHL time included) Pacific Division champions and advance to Nationals.
Devil’s Advocate:
-Ontario has the offensive flare to really bring it to Fresno … if they can activate it at the right time.
-Las Vegas and San Diego are neck-and-neck, and Las Vegas has a potent Grade-A offense. If they can click at the right time, they could easily drop the Sabers and advance.
Eliminated Teams:
(5) Bakersfield Roughnecks: The organization’s inaugural season started rough, but they have improved since the beginning of the season and are heading in the right direction — they’ll be a fun team to watch for years to come.
(6) Long Beach Shredders: A lot of movement in this organization has made it rough to develop stability, but their uniform set-up is sick (a real logo would be better).
(7) Lake Tahoe Lakers: The hills are alive with the sound of hockey! After a rough start to the season, they have really put on a show for the home town fans, despite dropping close matches to some of the toughest competition in the Pacific with strong showings from age-out netminder, Fabian Pozzera.
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Author: CD, Host, Pigeonhole Hockey Podcast
