Photo Credit: @paulspicsnj

The first half of the 2024-25 EHL season ended at the Showcase in Haverhill, MA. The Huntsmen had three games against some tough opponents. Day one they faced the New Hampshire Avalanche. Day two was against the Connecticut Roughriders, and the final game was against another top team, Express Hockey Club. The Premier Team ended the first half on home ice against the Philadelphia Little Flyers.

EHL vs Avalanche (Tues)

Showcase format 2-25s

The scoring opened late in the 1st period, New Hampshire scored from the slot. The Huntsmen responded early in the 2nd. Mirigliano skated behind the Avs net, dropped the puck off to Schaeffer who sent the puck to Damon Warren, and he chipped it into the net tying the game 1-1. The Avalanche regained the lead after a failed clearing attempt by the Huntsmen and New Hampshire scored making it 2-1. Later in the period, the Avalanche scored a power play goal extending their lead 3-1. The Huntsmen answered right away as England forced a turnover on the Avs defense, and Xavier Tremblay went top shelf, and it was 3-2. Pennsylvania emptied the net late in the game but were kept off the board losing a tight game to the Avalanche. Goaltender Alex Illus was impressive in goal making 32 saves.

“I thought it was one of the better games we played this season,” said Ryan Arendes. “We knew it was a big game, and we wanted to prove that that Huntsmen are not an organization that you can take lightly, unfortunately we came up short.”

EHL vs Roughriders (Wed)

The Huntsmen started off slowly and the Roughriders scored first. The Huntsmen tied the game when Manzi took a shot, and Shane Hill fired the rebound into the net. Enzo Giuliani gave the Huntsmen the lead with a backhanded shot in traffic for the 2-1 lead. Good puck movement by Rissor and Giuliani set up Edward Mirigliano crashing the net to extend the lead 3-1. In the 2nd period, Arendes sent the puck backdoor and Auge Cisar tapped the puck in for the fourth goal of the game. The final goal was on the power play as Warren and Arendes had pressure in front, but Devin Schaeffer was the one who sent the puck home making it 5-1 PA.  Aidan Chominsky made 15 saves in net for the Huntsmen.

EHL vs Express (Thurs)

In the 1st period the Express jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Early in the 2nd, Warren had a nice feed to Devin Schaeffer crashing the net and he scored to put the Huntsmen on the board. Later in the period, a shot through traffic from the point found its way to the back of the net for the Express. The Huntsmen emptied the net looking for offense but never got back on the scoresheet and lost the game 3-1.

Premier vs Little Flyers

Devin Schaeffer opened the scoring early in the game for the Huntsmen. In the 2nd period the Little Flyers scored 3 goals, taking a 3-1 lead. In the final minute, Raleigh Radkowski cut the deficit and made it 3-2. The Little Flyers took the momentum right back less than twenty seconds later and extended their lead 4-2. Late in the 3rd, the Huntsmen were shorthanded. Mirigliano crashed the net with pressure on him. The save was made but Tripp Young was there for the rebound and the Huntsmen were right back into the game. The Huntsmen sent the extra attacker on looking for an equalizer, but the Little Flyers iced the game with an empty net goal and won the game 5-3.

The first half of the season has come to a close across the EHL and EHL Premier. The first half of the season has been a rollercoaster filled with ups and downs for both teams.

After a tough Showcase the EHL Team looks to regroup and get ready for a second half push. Here’s what the players had to say about the first half of the season.

“It feels good to have the break. I know we all want to see our families and get our minds off of hockey for a little bit. At the same time, I know everyone is itching to get back on the ice. We are going to have time off but then it'll be back to business and working on getting better.” Arendes

“This Showcase meant a lot for our team,” said Captain Damon Warren. “We wanted to prove to the league that we are a team that can go far. We are coming together as a team. Earlier in the year, a few guys had to carry the load. More players have been stepping up lately and it's been helping us. I think our best quality is our compete level. Everyone is giving their all when they are on the ice. We need to improve on playing a consistent game. We need to play an even game so we can be successful.”

Coach Progen has seen the team make positive strides but knows that there is still work to be done. “We've been playing better hockey recently, and we want to continue to build off it. We need to be able to string wins together and move in the right direction. We have little details that need to be cleaned up, but if we stick with the program and process, we will be rewarded. We want to be one of the best. I'm glad we had the tough schedule at the showcase. We wanted the challenge of beating higher level teams, unfortunately we didn't beat them, but we are working towards that, and you need to have that competition in order to get there.”

Premier Team

The Premier has also been playing better over the last six weeks. Coach Progen says that the hard work must continue but is happy that the team is getting better throughout the season. “We are continuing to grow in spite of having a lot of different roster combinations. Our players have grown and developed on and off the ice. We are starting to play some better hockey, we still have to clean up some bad habits in our defensive zone, but those things get fixed with more ice time.”

The Huntsmen are trying to establish a pipeline within the organization. This year, the Huntsmen have a youth U18 team along with the two junior teams. The U18 players have been practicing and getting valuable in game ice time. “It’s great development for them, U18 hockey and junior hockey are different styles,” says Coach Progen. “They are gaining a lot of experience playing with our Premier Team and that’s awesome. Even our Premier players are practicing with the EHL Team and getting valuable reps with them and that’s helping them grow. Inside of our Huntsmen program, the three teams that we have, everyone is getting plenty of ice time. They are getting opportunities to develop and that’s what we want to be known for as an organization. We want to develop our players so they can play at the next level.”

The Huntsmen return to action this weekend. Later in the week, we’ll preview the second half as the Huntsmen gear up for a push to the playoffs.

By: Joe Sindoni

Staff Writer

Play by Play Announcer