USPHL Premier’s Midwest West Division Preview

By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com 

In Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Midwest West Division is always an exciting circuit to watch. Every team continues to be able to beat everyone else, and the gap is very swiftly closing from top to bottom.

This is considerable, in terms of the Dells Ducks seeing the biggest year-over-year improvement (+18 points) followed closely by the Isanti Outlaws (+17). Now, to be fair, they’re closing the gap on the teams in the fourth through sixth spots. The teams above that include two more teams that saw year-over-year jumps, including the regular season champion Hudson Havoc. The Minnesota Moose improved by seven points to finish in third last year.

Between them were the first-year Minnesota Squatch, who had an outstanding debut season by posting 63 points. In the end, it was the Havoc and Moose that made the trip east to Utica for the 2023 USPHL Nationals. The Havoc, Moose and Minnesota Blue Ox have been the division’s representatives over the last three years, and they don’t want to give up their National-bound reputations any time soon.

The Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings, Blue Ox, Steele County Blades and Isanti Outlaws formed a strong middle pack, but each of those teams would obviously much rather be challenging for top spot and a Nationals trip. The Ducks improved well from what was a truly down year in 2021-22, but they still have more mountains to climb to be a top four contender. The Minnesota Mullets fell into their own down year last season, but Owner/Coach Chris Walby is confident his squad can turn it back around.

Read the full article here!

Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings – USPHL Premier Hockey Receives 2023 Best of Wisconsin Rapids Award

August 30, 2023

Wisconsin Rapids Award Program Honors the Achievement

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings – USPHL Premier Hockey has been selected for the 2023 Best of Wisconsin Rapids Award in the Ice hockey club category by the Wisconsin Rapids Award Program.

Each year, the Wisconsin Rapids Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Wisconsin Rapids area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2023 Wisconsin Rapids Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Wisconsin Rapids Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Wisconsin Rapids Award Program

The Wisconsin Rapids Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Wisconsin Rapids area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Wisconsin Rapids Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

Three Riverkings named to USPHL All-Star List

The USPHL Premier announced their 2022-23 Midwest West Division All-Stars on April 24. Three Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings were named to the list, defenseman, Kyle Cuplo (’03) and forwards Tobias Falkied (’02) and Will Tricarico (’02).

The All-Stars were selected from votes made by the coaches with support from the League Media Director.

William Tricarico, Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings 

Committed to Illinois State University (ACHA Div. 1)

Tricarico (‘02/East Islip, N.Y.) was rare in the USPHL Premier, coming out of college hockey and going into junior hockey. He had played two years for the Canisius College ACHA, but was looking for a change and a potential new college hockey situation. He signed on with the Riverkings and had no problem jumping right into a leadership role under the Riverkings’ new ownership and coaching staff, posting 39 goals and 22 assists for 61 points in 43 games. Tricarico finished tied for second in the Premier in game-winning goals with eight. He is now moving on to the Illinois State University ACHA squad.

Tobias Falkeid, Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings

The ‘02 from Hanefoss, Norway, aced the test of his first North American hockey season. He’d previously played in his homeland as well as in Denmark and Austria before calling Wisconsin his home. He put up 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 38 games. He was even more potent during the Riverkings’ two hard-fought postseason rounds, posting a 4-4-8 line in five games. The Riverkings did well, powering past the Minnesota Blue Ox in three games where he had a hat trick in game one, before falling to the division champion Hudson in two, including a 3-2 Game 1.

Kyle Cupolo, Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings 

Cupolo (‘03/Waterloo, Ont.) was the division’s scoring leader among blueliners, putting up 13 assists and 28 assists for 41 points. Although he was in his first Premier season, he came in with two prior seasons of junior hockey in his home country of Canada. Along with his offensive performance, he also led the division with an almost unthinkable 134 blocked shots this season. Great shin pads are a must!

You can read the full article on the USPHL Premier site here.