USPHL Elite 2024-25 New England All-Division Team
Forward: Chase Darcey, South Shore Kings
Darcey (‘06/Billerica, Mass.) certainly proved that not only was he a powerful force in Elite, but also at the Premier level. During his time with the first-year Elite Kings team, he racked up 41 goals and added 13 assists for 54 points in 41 games, tying for the league lead in goals. The 41 goals also saw him tie for fifth all time for a single season. With the Premier Kings, he scored a 4-4-8 line in nine games.
Forward: Brendan Birmingham, Springfield Pics
Birmingham (‘04/Ellington, Conn.) finished third in the USPHL Elite in overall scoring, scoring 20 goals and adding 43 assists for 63 points. His 43 assists also led the Elite this year, and also is the highest assist total for a Springfield Elite player since the league’s 2017-18 inception. He also set the all-time points record for the Pics.
Forward: Brady Stevens, Northern Cyclones
Stevens (‘05/Newburyport, Mass.) scored 22 goals and added 37 assists for 59 points as the Cyclones put up yet another strong season, including a trip to the 2025 Nationals. Stevens finished sixth in league scoring overall and added five points in eight playoff games this year. Stevens is a product of the Northern Cyclones Academy program, including games played with the Cyclones Academy 18U team this past season.
Defense: Jackson Bulthaup, Northern Cyclones
Bulthaup (‘05/Big Rock, Ill.) scored 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points in 44 games here in 2024-25, before adding eight points in eight playoff games. Bulthaup has been a teammate of Brady Stevens for three seasons, including time with the Cyclones Academy teams. His 38 points from the blue line rank fifth all-time among Cyclones defensemen.
Defense: Gavin O’Keefe, Islanders Hockey Club
O’Keefe (‘05/Reading, Mass.) was a sensation for the IHC all season long, ultimately scoring 11 goals and 28 assists for 39 points in 43 games. That set a new Islanders Elite team record for points by a defenseman. He also helped the Islanders to the sixth lowest shots on goal against per game average of 28.45 per game.
Goaltender: Gavin Carpenter, Springfield Pics
Carpenter (‘07/South Hadley, Mass.) is a homegrown product for the Pics in a similar fashion to others on this list for their respective organizations. He played for the 15U Pics two seasons ago and the 16U Pics team last year. This year, Carpenter put up a division-leading .927 save percentage in his 16 games of action, which put him in the Top 15 overall for the Elite Conference. He registered a 2.91 goals against average.
Selection Process: Coaches in the division first nominate players, and then vote on these nominations. If there are ties in positions, there is an additional run-off vote. Coaches are presented with the finalists and given more than 24 hours to make changes if the majority votes to do so. If there are no challenges to the finalists, they are named as the All-Division Team.
Summaries by Joshua Boyd