Hudson, NH – Another week has come and gone in this unique 2020-21 hockey season. All eight teams between the Northern Cyclones Junior and Academy programs took the ice during the week ending on February 7th. The Junior teams continued their stay in Hub City Tampa, while Academy teams grinded out game action in New Hampshire. With so many games and victories, it should be no surprise that there were some sensational personal performances.
Without further ado, here are the Cyclones ‘Players of The Week, Presented by St. Joseph Hospital’ for the week ending February 7th!
This week, USPHL Elite defenseman Ryan Elleraas and 18U Premier goalie Ty Smith take home the honors! Elite went 4-0-0 in Hub City Tampa, while 18U Premier went 2-1-0 in a three-game weekend. They defeated the New Hampshire Monarchs and Berwick Academy back in New Hampshire.
Elleraas played a key role for Head Coach Joe Flanagan during Elite’s undefeated week. Elleraas scored five points (0 g, 5 a) in four games. Elleraas had a pair of assists in Elite’s 7-0 victory over the New York Aviators on February 2nd, then tacked on another helper in the rematch two days later. The Cyclones won that game as well, taking it 5-4 in overtime.
Elleraas had an assist in both weekend games against Florida-based opponents. They defeated the Tampa Bay Juniors 7-4 on Saturday at AdventHealth Center Ice, then knocked off the Florida Eels 2-1 on Sunday in Fort Myers.
In addition to contributing points, Elleraas is a leader in the locker room and “logs mega minutes” on both the penalty kill and the powerplay for Elite. Elleraas is a native of San Diego, California and a captain for Elite.
Smith, meanwhile, was outstanding for Coach JT Henke on the Academy 18U Premier team. He tossed aside 34 shots on Thursday afternoon at Tri-Town Arena to backstop the Cyclones to a 1-0 victory. The defeat of the rival Monarchs gave New Hampshire just their fourth loss of the season.
Smith got right back into the net the next day, and collected his second victory over the weekend. This team, he helped 18U Premier score a 5-4 victory over Berwick Academy in Dover.
After their 2-1-0 weekend, 18U Premier is now 9-13-3 on the 2020-21 season.
