Hudson, NH – A year unlike any other has come to a close for the Northern Cyclones junior teams. The 2020-21 season brought levels of adversity never seen before by these young men. The Cyclones Premier and Elite teams took that adversity, battle through it and emerged with two of the most successful seasons in recent memory for the program.
Both Premier and Elite advanced to the USPHL’s 2021 Nationals, with both teams advancing to the National Semifinals. In the end, Premier finished the season ranked 3rd overall in the entire country, while Elite was ranked 4th in the country when it was all said and done.
Both teams had to deal with numerous stretches of downtime due to government shutdowns of hockey and interstate play bans. Both teams were forced to relocate to Tampa Bay, Florida for Hub City Tampa for six weeks to continue their seasons. They took it all in stride, never complaining and always working hard to be ready for the next challenge. Both teams were rewarded with success on the ice.
Premier: Head Coach Bill Weiand’s team battled throughout the season to earn yet another playoff berth. Premier, who finished second in the New England Division in 2019-20, skated to a 27-10-1 record in 38 games played this season. By points, Premier finished 3rd in the New England Division with 55. That said, they played six less games than the second place Boston Junior Bruins, and five less games than the Division-winning Islanders Hockey Club. By points percentage, Premier finished second in the Division with a .724 mark.
In the playoffs, Premier went on a tear. In the First Round, the Cyclones faced the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs in the latest installment of the ‘Battle of New Hampshire’. After falling behind 2-0 in Game 1, Premier battled back and won 5-3 to strike first in the best-of-three series. The next day, Premier would again fall behind in Game 2, but stormed back to win it 6-2 and sweep the series, advancing to the second round.
The following weekend, it was a date with the Boston Junior Bruins at Cyclones Arena for a spot in USPHL Nationals. In Game 1, the Cyclones jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but had to withstand a Bruins comeback at the end of the game. Premier would hold them off, winning Game 1 of the best-of-three series 4-3 in regulation.
In Game 2, it was a war. The sides battled back and forth, with the Bruins opening the scoring in the contest. Premier battled back to tie it late in the second period, then scored two quick goals in the third to jump ahead 3-1. The Bruins were able to cut the lead to 3-2, but an empty net goal at 19:15 punched Premier’s ticket to USPHL Nationals.
After going 4-0-0 in divisional playoffs, Premier kept the good times rolling in round-robin play at Nationals. Premier won Pool A, going 3-0-0 in round-robin games. The defeated the Charleston Colonials 4-3 in the opening game, then doubled up the Metro Jets 4-2 in day two action. In the final round-robin game, Trevor Wong made 25 saves for a shutout in a 1-0 victory over the Elmira Junior Enforcers.
Jesse Johnson had the lone goal in the victory, coming 19:10 into the second period.
The win advanced the Cyclones to the Semifinals, where they would meet the Charlotte Rush. Unfortunately for the Cyclones, the Rush were too much to handle in this game. Charlotte scored a 10-1 victory to advance to the National Championship, which they would win 2-0 over the Florida Eels on March 22nd.
In addition to their on-ice success, Premier once again succeeded in promoting players to the NCAA level. In all, seven players from the 2020-21 Cyclones Premier team have committed to play NCAA hockey, while a number of players will be returning for the 2021-22 season with an eye towards another run.
Elite: Coach Joe Flanagan’s team came into the 2020-21 season was a chip on their shoulders. Elite won the North Division title in 2019-20 and finished with the top points percentage in the League. In the playoffs, they swept the Boston Junior Bruins 2-0 in a best-of-three series to advance to USPHL Nationals. Unfortunately, hours before their first game, Nationals was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In 2020-21, Elite was equally as dominant. In 28 regular season games, Elite went 24-4-0, including 18-2-0 inside of Hub City Tampa in January and February. Their 48 points was good for third in the North Division, but they played 12 less games than the second place Junior Bruins, who finished just three points ahead of them. The Islanders Hockey Club had the most points in the division with 61 but played 13 more games than the Cyclones.
By points percentage, Elite was once again the top team in the North Division. Their .857 points percentage not only topped the North, but also was the best mark in the entire league. As a result, Elite advanced to Nationals for a second straight season.
Like Premier, Elite was placed in Pool A at Nationals. Their road was a little bumpier at the start, but still led to the same destination. Elite dropped a hard-fought 4-3 decision to the Richmond Generals in their opening game but bounced back with a 2-2 tie against the Tampa Bay Juniors on Day 2.
That meant the Cyclones had to win their game on March 20th and see Tampa Bay lose to advance to the National Semifinals. The Cyclones did their part, blasting the Jersey Hitmen by a final score of 6-0 at Chilled Ponds. Tampa, meanwhile, dropped a 4-3 decision to the Generals. That duo of results pushed the Cyclones to the National Semifinal, where they met the Charlotte Rush.
The game was tied 1-1 after forty minutes, but the Rush just had a little more on this day. The Rush exploded for three goals in the final period and skated away with a 4-1 victory. Like Premier, the Rush would claim the National Championship on Monday. They defeated the Charleston Colonials 6-5.
Congratulations to both Premier and Elite on sensational seasons and top-four finishes in the rankings!
