2018–19 FHL season
| 2018–19 FHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Federal Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Carolina Thunderbirds |
| Season MVP | Josh Pietrantonio (Carolina Thunderbirds) |
| Top scorer | Tyler Gjurich (Watertown Wolves) |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Michael Bunn (Thunderbirds) |
| Finals champions | Carolina Thunderbirds (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Elmira Enforcers |
The 2018–19 Federal Hockey League season was the ninth season of the Federal Hockey League. The regular season ran for 58 games for four of the six teams, with the Port Huron Prowlers and Danville Dashers each playing 59. The Carolina Thunderbirds won both the regular season and the playoff championships, the latter being their first league title.
League changes
On July 17, 2018, Robbie Nichols announced he had acquired an expansion team in Elmira, New York, called the Elmira Enforcers, one year after the Elmira Jackals had ceased operations.[1] In the same press conference, FHL commissioner Kirnan confirmed that the North Shore Knights—which had ceased to operate back in February and released all its players and staff in March—was formally folded.
The following week, the league announced another expansion team in Mentor, Ohio, called the Mentor Ice Breakers to bring the league back to six teams.[2] The league also slightly altered its primary logo, changing the branding from Federal Professional Hockey League to Federal Prospects Hockey League, while still using the FHL abbreviation.
Regular season
On March 10, 2019, Enforcers' owner Nichols assaulted a referee after the first period of a game against the Carolina Thunderbirds. The game was immediately cancelled by the officials, and subsequently led the FHL's officiating supervisor resigning from the league and pulling all the referees from the FHL citing the need to protect his personnel.[3][4] Nichols was issued the league-maximum fine of $25,000.[5] The league then recruited local officials for the remaining games.[6]
The Thunderbirds went on to dominate the league standings, shattering single season records for wins and points, while leading the league in scoring despite not having a scorer in the top ten.
Standings
Final standings.[7]
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | Att. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina Thunderbirds | 58 | 49 | 6 | 3 | 266 | 116 | 149 | 2714 |
| Elmira Enforcers | 58 | 33 | 20 | 5 | 224 | 173 | 99 | 3137 |
| Watertown Wolves | 58 | 31 | 26 | 1 | 236 | 256 | 87 | 964 |
| Port Huron Prowlers | 59 | 25 | 32 | 2 | 237 | 271 | 74 | 835 |
| Danville Dashers | 59 | 19 | 36 | 4 | 197 | 263 | 58 | 990 |
| Mentor Ice Breakers | 58 | 18 | 35 | 5 | 203 | 280 | 58 | 374 |
- Advanced to playoffs
Statistical leaders
Scoring leaders
The following players are sorted by points, then goals.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Gjurich | Watertown Wolves | 56 | 51 | 55 | 106 | 32 |
| Dalton Jay | Port Huron Prowlers | 57 | 43 | 62 | 105 | 20 |
| Matt Robertson | Port Huron Prowlers | 48 | 43 | 59 | 102 | 14 |
| Josh Pietrantonio | Carolina Thunderbirds | 54 | 27 | 56 | 83 | 93 |
| Ahmed Mahfouz | Elmira Enforcers | 37 | 29 | 53 | 82 | 104 |
| Jan Salák | Carolina Thunderbirds | 57 | 25 | 52 | 77 | 35 |
| Matt Graham | Port Huron Prowlers | 50 | 14 | 62 | 76 | 46 |
| Zack Zulkanycz | Port Huron Prowlers | 53 | 28 | 40 | 68 | 75 |
| Yianni Liarakos | Watertown Wolves | 43 | 30 | 37 | 67 | 53 |
| Kyle Powell | Watertown Wolves | 58 | 7 | 58 | 65 | 43 |
Leading goaltenders
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime/shootout loss
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | SA | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | W | L | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christián Pavlas | Carolina Thunderbirds | 46 | 2101 | 906 | 62 | 5 | 1.77 | .923 | 30 | 3 | 2 |
| Troy Passingham | Elmira Enforcers | 53 | 2459 | 1521 | 115 | 1 | 2.81 | .925 | 21 | 16 | 6 |
| Cory Simons | Port Huron Prowlers | 40 | 1671 | 1145 | 88 | 1 | 3.16 | .923 | 16 | 10 | 1 |
| Matt Kaludis | Danville Dashers | 54 | 2779 | 1944 | 146 | 0 | 4.12 | .902 | 14 | 28 | 6 |
| Derek Moser | Mentor Ice Breakers | 54 | 1969 | 1172 | 146 | 4 | 4.45 | .875 | 12 | 18 | 5 |
Playoffs
The Thunderbirds and Enforcers met again in the league championships, with the Thunderbirds opening the series with winning the first two games.[8] In the second game, the Thunderbirds won in overtime with a game-winning goal landing on the back of the Enforcers' goaltender and then fell across the goal line when he got up.[9] The Enforcers heavily contested the call, with team-leading scorer Ahmed Mahfouz verbally confronting the officials and leading to a physical altercation between head coach Brent Clarke and a linesman. Mahfouz then broke his stick over the goalpost and tossed it over the glass into the stands before leaving the ice. Finally, Enforcers' goaltender Passingham was still disputing the goal with the official before leaving for the visitor's locker room, with the walkway passing directly next the fans, and a fan threw a filled cup at Passingham. Passingham then attacked the fan before they were eventually separated.[10] Clarke, Mahfouz, and Passingham were all suspended by the league: Mahfouz for one game, Passingham for two, and Clarke for five games.[11] The Enforcers then won the next game before the Thunderbirds won the championship in game four.
| Semifinals (Best of 3) | Finals(Best of 5) | ||||||||
| 1 | Carolina Thunderbirds | 2 | |||||||
| 4 | Port Huron Prowlers | 0 | |||||||
| 1 | Carolina Thunderbirds | 3 | |||||||
| 2 | Elmira Enforcers | 1 | |||||||
| 2 | Elmira Enforcers | 2 | |||||||
| 3 | Watertown Wolves | 0 | |||||||
Semifinals
(1) Carolina Thunderbirds vs. (4) Port Huron Prowlers
| April 12 | Carolina Thunderbirds | 5–4 | Port Huron Prowlers | McMorran Place | ||||
| 14:18 – Michael Bunn (1) | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| 3:26 – Jiří Pargáč (1) 10:58 – pp – Petr Panáček (1) 13:48 – Jay Croop (1) |
Second period | Alex Johnson (1) – pp – 6:23 Matt Robertson (1) – pp – 7:20 Dalton Jay (1) – sh – 10:29 | ||||||
| 6:32 – Josh Pietrantonio (1) | Third period | Matt Robertson (2) – 19:43 | ||||||
| Christián Pavlas (23 saves / 27 shots) | Goalie stats | Chris Paulin (36 saves / 41 shots) | ||||||
| April 13 | Port Huron Prowlers | 2–3 | Carolina Thunderbirds | Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena | ||||
| No scoring | First period | 15:11 – Jay Croop (2) | ||||||
| Alex Johnson (2) – 3:35 | Second period | 12:36 – Michael Bunn (2) 18:02 – pp – Michael Bunn (3) | ||||||
| Matt Graham (1) – 9:31 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Chris Paulin (26 saves / 29 shots) | Goalie stats | Christián Pavlas (29 saves / 31 shots) | ||||||
| Carolina won series 2–0 | |
(2) Elmira Enforcers vs. (3) Watertown Wolves
| April 12 | Elmira Enforcers | 5–4 | Watertown Wolves | Watertown Municipal Arena | ||||
| 5:30 – pp – Sean Reynolds (1) 7:17 – Mitch Atkins (1) |
First period | Tyler Prendergast (1) – 4:25 Tyler Prendergast (2) – 18:36 | ||||||
| 13:47 – Brandon Vuic (1) | Second period | Tyler Gjurich (1) – pp – 3:30 Tyler Gjurich (2) – 9:38 | ||||||
| 11:16 – Stepan Timofeyev (1) 19:16 – Sean Reynolds (2) |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Troy Passingham (28 saves / 32 shots) | Goalie stats | Jared Rutledge (33 saves / 38 shots) | ||||||
| April 13 | Watertown Wolves | 4–7 | Elmira Enforcers | First Arena | ||||
| Deric Boudreau (1) – 10:24 | First period | 6:23 – Brandon Vuic (2) 18:17 – Ahmed Mahfouz (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 2:53 – Mitch Atkins (2) 17:37 – Gavin Yates (1) | ||||||
| Tyler Gjurich (3) – pp – 3:39 Deric Boudreau (2) – 3:48 Tyler Gjurich (4) – pp – 11:27 |
Third period | 1:43 – pp – Sean Reynolds (3) 19:16 – en – Stepan Timofeyev (2) 19:43 – en – Stepan Timofeyev (3) | ||||||
| Jared Rutledge (29 saves / 34 shots) | Goalie stats | Troy Passingham (36 saves / 40 shots) | ||||||
| Elmira won series 2–0 | |
FHL Finals
(1) Carolina Thunderbirds vs. (2) Elmira Enforcers
| April 19 | Elmira Enforcers | 3–7 | Carolina Thunderbirds | Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena | ||||
| Kyle Stevens (1) – 18:52 | First period | 2:15 – Michael Bunn (4) 13:46 – Beau Walker (1) 15:51 – Karel Drahorad (1) | ||||||
| Sean Reynolds (4) – 15:38 | Second period | 2:25 – Beau Walker (2) 6:43 – Michael Bunn (5) 11:27 – Jiří Peštuka (1) | ||||||
| Jacob Walters (1) – 6:53 | Third period | 6:03 – Josh Pietrantonio (2) | ||||||
| Troy Passingham (34 saves / 41 shots) Nick Niedert (6 saves / 6 shots) |
Goalie stats | Christián Pavlas (26 saves / 29 shots) | ||||||
| April 20 | Elmira Enforcers | 3–4 | OT | Carolina Thunderbirds | Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena | |||
| Brandon Vuic (3) – 13:08 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gavin Yates (2) – 4:11 Brandon Vuic (4) – 4:55 |
Second period | 18:28 – Karel Drahorad (2) 18:50 – Petr Panáček (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:38 – pp – Josh Pietrantonio (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 17:20 – Michael Bunn (6) | ||||||
| Troy Passingham (73 saves / 77 shots) | Goalie stats | Christián Pavlas (22 saves / 25 shots) | ||||||
| April 26 | Carolina Thunderbirds | 2–7 | Elmira Enforcers | First Arena | ||||
| Beau Walker (3) – 3:14 | First period | 0:58 – Sean Reynolds (5) 4:49 – Kyle Stevens (2) 9:31 – pp – Stepan Timofeyev (4) 10:53 – pp – Brandon Vuic (5) 17:27 – Tom Tracy (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jan Salák (1) – 4:31 | Third period | 1:23 – Brendan Hussey (1) 4:37 – ps – Brandon Vuic (6) | ||||||
| Christián Pavlas (23 saves / 30 shots) | Goalie stats | Nick Niedert (42 saves / 44 shots) | ||||||
| April 27 | Carolina Thunderbirds | 4–3 | OT | Elmira Enforcers | First Arena | |||
| Beau Walker (4) – 5:46 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 2:22 – pp – Kyle Stevens (3) 5:45 – Mitch Atkins (3) | ||||||
| Jan Salák (2) – 0:14 Petr Panáček (3) – pp – 10:18 |
Third period | 15:21 – Nathan Pelligra (1) | ||||||
| Jan Salák (3) – pp – 0:35 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Christián Pavlas (17 saves / 20 shots) | Goalie stats | Nick Niedert (43 saves / 47 shots) | ||||||
| Carolina won series 3–1 | |
References
- ^ "Professional hockey returns to Elmira's First Arena". Star Gazette. July 17, 2018.
- ^ "FHL Expands to Mentor, Ohio". OurSportsCentral.com. July 23, 2018.
- ^ "Officials pull referees from all FHL games following alleged altercation between Enforcers owner, refs". WENY-TV. March 11, 2019.
- ^ "REPORT: Officiating supervisor pulls refs from all remaining FHL games". Bus League Hockey. March 10, 2019. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019.
- ^ "Elmira Enforcers fined $25,000 for owner Robbie Nichols pushing a ref". BusLeagueHockey.com. March 12, 2019. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020.
- ^ "Local pro hockey: FHL says staffing games with officials shouldn't be a problem". Watertown Daily Times. March 14, 2019.
- ^ "2018-19 Federal Hockey League Standings". hockeydb.com. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
- ^ "THUNDERBIRDS TAKE GAME 1 IN DOMINANT FASHION". FHL. April 19, 2019.
- ^ "DRAMATIC OVERTIME WIN GIVES CAROLINA 2-0 SERIES LEAD". FHL. April 20, 2019.
- ^ "'Controversial Goal' in Carolina results in chaos following classic game". Bus League Hockey. April 21, 2019. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019.
- ^ "UPDATE: 3 Enforcers Suspended Amid Commissioners Cup Controversy". WENY. April 23, 2019.