Meanwhile, the rest of the Northern Division the four Massachusetts team are playing in a more normal playoff format. The top-seeded Junior Bruins defeated the No. 4 Boston Advantage in three games, while the third-seeded Islanders Hockey Club beat the No. 2 South Shore Kings, also in three games.
The Jr. Bruins and Islanders HC will meet in the second-round playoff series for the chance to go to the final four.
Hodge said that the reason for the separate formats in the North Division is to keep teams as close as possible.
“It helps on travel and (keeps teams regionalized),” Hodge said. “We play the New Hampshire teams and the Mass. teams (will play against each other).”
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The Thunder defeated the Utica Jr. Comets 5-1 on Tuesday morning in a USPHL National Collegiate Development Conference game at the Advent Health Center in Wesley Chapel, Florida.
The win snaps a two-game losing streak for Twin City, which lost 9-2 to the Rockets Hockey Club on Thursday and dropped a 2-1 decision to the Connecticut Jr. Rangers on Sunday. Overall, the Thunder went 7-13 during their six-week stay in Florida.
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“It was a good way to end the Florida experience,” Thunder assistant coach Cam Robichaud said. “We started with a big win over the Islanders (Hockey Club) in overtime and finish with a big win over Utica it was a good way to start and a good way to finish. We had some success in the middle frame and some learning experiences as well. Hopefully it makes us a tighter group coming back to Maine, gearing up for the rest of the season.”
The Twin City Thunder are developing resiliency.
After letting a two-goal lead slip in the final five minutes of regulation, a goal by captain Nick Rashkovsky and an empty net goal by Hunter Schmitz gave the Thunder a 5-3 victory over the Utica Jr. Comets in a USPHL National Collegiate Development Conference contest at the Advent Health Center Ice in Wesley Chapel, Florida, on Tuesday.
“I thought we played a solid 60 minutes. I think we got into some penalty trouble late in the game and kind of gave them some life, but we found to pull out the two points,” Twin City Thunder assistant coach Alex Drulia said.
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The Twin City Thunder took a break from their regular-season schedule down in Wesley Chapel, Florida to take part in the United States Premier League-Professional Women’s Hockey Player’s Association All-Star Series.
The Thunder National Collegiate Development Conference team defeated the PWHPA All-Stars 3-2 in overtime Friday.
“They played a hard, skilled game,” Thunder coach Dan Hodge said. “They are up 2-1 with (three) seconds left in the game and we tied it up.”
The PWHPA is made up of a group of women’s players who came together after the Canadian Women’s Hockey League ceased operations in the spring of 2019. The goal of the organization is to promote a single, viable women’s hockey league. Some players on the roster include USA Olympic team standouts Gigi Marvin, Brianna Decker and Amanda Kessel.
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Twin City Thunder’s Alex Rivet and Dom Chasse work together to score a goal during hockey game in Auburn in October.
Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
Last year at this time Lewiston native Alex Rivet had been released by the hometown Maine Nordiques of the North American Hockey League and was on his way to north of the border to more frigid temperatures after he signed with the Waywayseecappo Wolverines of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
He’s trading in his winter coat for sunscreen, shorts and T-shirts this winter as he and the rest of his Twin City Thunder teammates have begun life in the United States Premier Hockey League’s Hub City in Tampa, Florida at the AdventHealth Center Ice and other rinkks.