2017–18 USPHL Premier season

2017–18 USPHL Premier season
LeagueUnited States Premier Hockey League
Premier
SportIce hockey
DurationRegular season
September 2017 – February 2018
Post-season
March 2018
Number of games44–43
Number of teams44
Regular season
Season championsCharlotte Rush
USPHL Premier Playoffs
Finals championsHampton Roads Whalers
  Runners-upCharlotte Rush

The 2017–18 USPHL Premier season was the 5th season of the Premier Division of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) and first as the league's secondary level. This is the first year that the USPHL operated without sanctioning from USA Hockey and became an entirely independent league. The regular season ran from September 2017 to February 2018 with an unbalanced schedule. The Charlotte Rush won the regular season championship and reached the league final where they were defeated by the Hampton Roads Whalers 3–2.

League reorganization

In October of 2016, the USPHL announced that they were founding a new Tier II league that would begin play the following September.[1] Seven teams from the Premier Division (Boston Junior Bruins, Connecticut Jr. Rangers, Islanders Hockey Club, New Jersey Hitmen, P.A.L. Jr. Islanders, South Shore Kings and Syracuse Stars) expressed interest in joining the new league alongside four other junior clubs. Despite USA Hockey rejecting the USPHL's petition for sanctioning,[2] the league went ahead with their plans and withdrew entirely from USA Hockey oversight.[3]

Rather than leave Tier III hockey, the seven Premier Division members would each found separate programs and operate in both leagues beginning with this season. Additionally, the league reorganized its entire structure. The new league, (National Collegiate Development Conference) would now operate as the USPHL's flagship series with the Premier league taking a subsidiary role. Lower leagues, particularly the United States Premier 3 Hockey League and the USPHL Midwest, were remade or discontinued, forcing the teams in those circuits to either disband or find new homes. Many of the franchises elected to promote their junior clubs to the Premier Division, causing the Tier III circuit to swell from 10 members to more than 40 virtually overnight.

Member changes

  • After two years in the league, the Okanagan European Eagles, a travel team that had been operating out of the Foxboro Sports Center, withdrew from the USPHL.
  • The Philadelphia Jr. Flyers, also called 'Philadelphia Flyers Elite' agreed to sell their program to the Lightning Hockey Club. The team relocated and were to be called the 'Delaware Lightning', however, the team was removed from the USPHL prior to this season.[4]
  • The P.A.L. Jr. Islanders and South Shore Kings each promoted both of their extant teams (Premier and Elite Divisions) one level (Premier joined NCDC while Elite joined Premier). While this had no practical difference for the Premier Division, both organizations swapped one of the franchises for another prior to this season.
  • The Rochester Monarchs organization promoted their Elite Division team to the NCDC and founded a second Premier Division franchise, both of which began play this season.
  • The Premier Division added the New York Aviators as an expansion team from an already-extant Elite Division franchise.
  • The Premier Division added the Chicago Cougars, Dells Ducks, Detroit Fighting Irish, Kalkaska Rhinos, Minnesota Moose, Minnesota Mullets, Steele County Blades, Wisconsin Rapids RiverKings from the USPHL's Elite Division.
  • On March 23, 2017, the Skipjacks Hockey Club were approved as an expansion franchise.
  • On April 13, 2017, the Wisconsin Muskies were approved as an expansion franchise.
  • On May 18, 2017, the Hudson Havoc were approved as an expansion franchise.
  • On June 14, 2017, the Minnesota Blue Ox were approved as an expansion franchise.

Regular season

The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:[5]

Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched regular season title

Standings

Florida Division

Team GP W L OTL Pts GF GA
xy – Tampa Bay Juniors 44 30 13 1 61 231 168
x – Florida Eels 44 27 15 2 56 199 152
x – Palm Beach Hawks 44 20 20 4 44 182 191
x – Florida Jr. Blades 44 18 22 4 40 154 177
Daytona Racers 44 8 36 0 16 155 262

Mid-Atlantic Division

Team GP W L OTL Pts GF GA
xy – New Jersey Rockets 44 35 5 4 74 221 114
x – Skipjacks Hockey Club 44 27 10 7 61 176 137
x – New Jersey Hitmen 44 25 16 3 53 160 142
x – New York Aviators 44 21 16 7 49 202 189
x – Jersey Shore Whalers 44 22 20 2 46 158 186
x – Connecticut Nighthawks 44 14 22 8 36 128 164
x – Connecticut Jr. Rangers 44 15 25 4 34 155 203
x – Hartford Jr. Wolfpack 44 10 33 1 21 117 221
P.A.L. Jr. Islanders 44 6 38 0 12 96 270

Midwest East Division

Team GP W L OTL Pts GF GA
xy – Chicago Cougars 44 30 11 2 62 176 104
x – Motor City Hawks 44 20 22 2 42 166 208
x – Detroit Fighting Irish 43 18 22 3 39 156 162
x – Kalkaska Rhinos 44 15 28 1 31 123 135
x – Decatur Blaze 44 13 29 2 28 114 176
x – Tri-City Ice Hawks 44 5 37 2 12 82 324

Note: Kalkaska withdrew from the league on January 28th due to a lack of players and forfeited their final 9 games.

Midwest West Division

Team GP W L OTL Pts GF GA
xy – Minnesota Moose 44 37 5 2 76 236 94
x – Wisconsin Rapids RiverKings 44 33 10 1 67 193 86
x – Minnesota Blue Ox 44 31 10 3 65 182 136
x – Minnesota Mullets 44 26 15 3 55 165 122
x – Wisconsin Muskies 44 22 18 4 48 148 236
x – Ironwood Fighting Yoopers 43 16 25 2 34 164 208
x – Steele County Blades 44 15 25 4 34 129 174
x – Dells Ducks 44 15 26 3 33 109 173
Hudson Havoc 44 8 34 2 18 87 219

North Division

Team GP W L OTL Pts GF GA
xy – New Hampshire Junior Monarchs 44 35 8 1 71 218 100
x – Islanders Hockey Club 44 29 9 6 64 179 113
x – Syracuse Stars 44 30 12 2 62 198 135
x – South Shore Kings 44 27 11 6 60 177 109
x – Boston Bandits 44 26 15 3 55 151 124
x – Northern Cyclones 44 25 16 3 53 156 125
x – Springfield Pics 44 25 18 1 51 149 144
x – Rochester Monarchs 44 22 20 2 46 169 145
Boston Junior Bruins 44 16 23 5 37 123 193

Southeast Division

Team GP W L OTL Pts GF GA
xyz – Charlotte Rush 44 40 2 2 82 280 76
x – Hampton Roads Whalers 44 30 13 1 61 166 102
x – Carolina Eagles 44 26 17 1 53 131 132
x – Richmond Generals 44 23 19 2 48 145 149
Atlanta Jr. Knights 44 20 19 5 45 155 159
Potomac Patriots 44 11 31 2 24 105 226

Premier Division playoffs

Divisional Round

Teams are reseeded after the quarterfinal rounds.

Florida

Semifinals
(Best-of-3)
   
1 Tampa Bay Juniors 2
4 Florida Jr. Blades 0
2 Florida Eels 2
3 Palm Beach Hawks 1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Mid-Atlantic

Quarterfinals
(Best-of-3) 		Semifinals
(Best-of-3)
      
1 New Jersey Rockets 2
8 Hartford Jr. Wolfpack 1
1 New Jersey Rockets 2
4 Connecticut Jr. Rangers 0
2 Skipjacks Hockey Club 0
7 Connecticut Jr. Rangers 2
3 New Jersey Hitmen 2
6 Connecticut Nighthawks 0
2 New Jersey Hitmen 0
3 New York Aviators 2
4 New York Aviators 2
5 Jersey Shore Whalers 0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Midwest East

Quarterfinals
(Best-of-3) 		Semifinals
(Best-of-3)
1 Chicago Cougars 2
5 Decatur Blaze 2 5 Decatur Blaze 0
6 Tri-City Ice Hawks 0
2 Motor City Hawks 2
3 Detroit Fighting Irish 1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Midwest West

Quarterfinals
(Best-of-3) 		Semifinals
(Best-of-3)
      
1 Minnesota Moose 2
8 Dells Ducks 0
1 Minnesota Moose 2
4 Minnesota Mullets 0
2 Wisconsin Rapids RiverKings 2
7 Steele County Blades 0
3 Minnesota Blue Ox 2
6 Ironwood Fighting Yoopers 0
2 Wisconsin Rapids RiverKings 2
3 Minnesota Blue Ox 0
4 Minnesota Mullets 2
5 Wisconsin Muskies 1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

New England

Quarterfinals
(Best-of-3) 		Semifinals
(Best-of-3)
      
1 New Hampshire Junior Monarchs 2
8 Rochester Monarchs 0
1 New Hampshire Junior Monarchs 1
6 Northern Cyclones 2
2 Islanders Hockey Club 2
7 Springfield Pics 1
3 Syracuse Stars 1
6 Northern Cyclones 2
2 Islanders Hockey Club 2
4 South Shore Kings 1
4 South Shore Kings 2
5 Boston Bandits 0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Southeast

Semifinal
(Best-of-3)
   
1 Charlotte Rush 2
4 Richmond Generals 0
2 Hampton Roads Whalers 2
3 Carolina Eagles 0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

National Round

The 12 qualifying teams were sorted into two separate pools for Round Robin play with each pool subdivided into two brackets. Each team would play the other two within the same bracket as well as one from the other bracket in the same pool.

The top team from each pool would advance to the Championship round.

Round Robin

Black Pool

CHA NJH MCH FLE IHC WRR
1 Charlotte Rush 6–0 14–1 8–1
2 New Jersey Hitmen 0–6 6–0 2–1
3 Motor City Hawks 1–14 0–6 3–4
4 Florida Eels 1–8 1–5 —
5 Islanders Hockey Club 4–3 5–1 2–0
6 Wisconsin Rapids RiverKings 1–2 — 0–2

Gold Pool

CHC HRW NJR MNM TBJ NOR
1 Chicago Cougars 2–10 2–6 —
2 Hampton Roads Whalers 10–2 — 6–1
3 New Jersey Rockets 6–2 — 7–1
4 Minnesota Moose 1–7 4–1 7–5
5 Tampa Bay Juniors 1–6 1–4 3–2
6 Northern Cyclones — 5–7 2–3

Championship round

Semifinals Championship
      
BA Charlotte Rush 5
GB Minnesota Moose 2
BA Charlotte Rush 2
GA Hampton Roads Whalers 3
GA Hampton Roads Whalers 2
BB Islanders Hockey Club 1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

References

  1. ^ "USPHL Announces New Tuition Free Hockey Division for 2017-18 Season". Junior Hockey News. October 6, 2016.
  2. ^ "DAILY DISH: USPHL-NAHL Showdown? Yea Right". Junior Hockey News. December 5, 2016.
  3. ^ "DAILY DISH: USA HOCKEY ANNUAL CONGRESS". Junior Hockey News. June 6, 2017.
  4. ^ "Delaware Lightning". Elite Prospects. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  5. ^ "USPHL Standings". United States Premier Hockey League. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
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