General Game Notes: USHL action between the Green Bay Gamblers and the Muskegon Lumberjacks. October 29th, 2023. This game was all Gamblers from start to finish as they cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Lumberjacks led by 2 goals from Libor Nemec #15 and goaltender, Gavin Moffat #1.
| Gavin Moffatt | Green Bay Gamblers | USHL | L | G | 6’0″ | 170 | Darien, CT | 2004 | Free Agent |
Game Grade: B+
Comments: Moffatt is a bit under-sized for your typical goaltender, but he makes up for it with his compete level. Doesn’t quit on any puck and makes some big saves that look like he might not. Made some timely saves to keep the game close, which ultimately allowed his team to pull away with the win. Owned good foot-work and tried to remain on his feet (instead of sliding) on lateral plays. By doing so, he would arrive to the shooter, square to the puck, and make his save selection accordingly. Has active hands and doesn’t rely on ‘blocking’ the puck, instead catches what he can by tracking the puck into his body, hands and legs. In turn, this led to good rebound control and prevented second chance opportunities.
| Chris Romaine | Green Bay Gamblers | USHL | R | D | 6’0″ | 190 | Providence | 2024 | Braintree, MA | 2004 | 2021-2022: B- |
Game Grade: B+
Comments: Romaine is a right shot defender who does a lot of little things right. In the defensive zone, boxes out his opponents early, reads broken plays well, gets to loose pucks and moves them up ice. Owns a good first pass by not panicking with the puck, but instead having poise and finding his teammates sticks. Will join the rush as the extra offensive man and can create offense by catching and releasing pucks, especially off the rush. In the offensive zone, controlled the puck on the blue line and was a pivotal player on the PP. Made hard plays, maintaining puck possession, and if he saw a lane to the net, would let it rip. Found a way to get his shots through to the net creating chaos in the net-front area.
| Blake Bechen | Green Bay Gamblers | USHL | R | C | 5’11” | 180 | Dubuque, IA | 2005 | 2023-2024: C2022-2023: C |
Game Grade: C+
Comments: Bechen played a high compete high effort game. He pushed the pace in all three zones and worked without the puck to be an asset for his linemates. He made smart decisions in the grey areas and chipped pucks out of the defensive zone or into the offensive zone with the intent to keep his feet moving and skate onto the puck to maintain momentum. Attacked off the transition and challenged his opponents by keeping his feet moving regardless of the pressure he faced. Nonstop motor.
| Geno Carcone | Green Bay Gamblers | USHL | L | LW | 5’9″ | 187 | Woodstock, GA | 2006 | Not yet rated |
Game Grade: B
Comments: Carcone was relentless on the forecheck right from puck drop. Despite being smaller, played physical and was strong on his stick. When going in on the forecheck, got low to the ice, used his power and active stick to separate his opponent from the puck. If he was to create a turnover, turned quickly to an offensive mindset and attacked the net. Created chaos by jamming pucks to the net and going there with a purpose.
| Libor Nemec | Green Bay Gamblers | USHL | L | RW | 6’3″ | 187 | UMass Lowell | 2024 | Bardejov, SVK | 2003 | Free Agent |
Game Grade: A-
Comments: Nemec is relentless on pucks. Has that will and want to score goals and will do what it takes to regain possession of it, especially on the forecheck. Hunts down his opponents with an active stick and attack mindset. Will jam loose pucks if he’s able to gain control of it and was rewarded for his efforts on the GWG. A lot of what he does is at full speed and when he gets going its hard to stop. Between his hunger, skill-set, size and strength he is hard to defend against as he will do what it takes to get to the net (and get rewarded).
| Julian Lutz | Green Bay Gamblers | USHL | L | LW | 6’2″ | 187 | Sault Ste-Marie Greyhounds | 2021 | Weingarten, GER | 2004 | 2021-2022: B- |
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Lutz plays with an edge and is a physical force when on the ice. Chips pucks in and chips them out, but ultimately puts pucks into areas where he can win battles and use his physicality to do so. Dropped the gloves in the 2nd period and showed his grit by creating some momentum for his team.
| Lev Katzin | Green Bay Gamblers | USHL | L | C | 5’8″ | 172 | Harvard | 2025 | Thornhill, ON | 2007 | 2024-2025: C |
Game Grade: B
Comments: Katzin is smaller forward who plays a north-south game. He wants to get pucks to the net by using his speed and having a shot mentality. Despite being on the smaller size, he shows hunger for loose pucks. If he sees a loose puck, uses his quick foot-work to get there and typically will get the puck to the net afterwards. Katzin scored the 1st goal of the game for the Gamblers by finding a rebound net-front, and stepping into a loose puck, beating the goaltender low blocker. The goal was a good example of his tenacity to get there and his hard, but accurate shot.
| Sacha Boisvert | Muskegon Lumberjacks | USHL | L | C | 6’2″ | 179 | North Dakota | 2025 | Trois-Rivieres, QC | 2006 | 2023-2024: B |
Game Grade: B
Comments: Boisvert is a taller, rangy forward with a high skill-set. Uses his speed to attack down the walls and has that unique ability to beat defenders in 1 on 1 situations. For example, will use his speed down the walls, cut to the middle while protecting the puck and attack the net. Owns a good shot with a quick release that he utilizes off rush scenarios. Showed some grit as he got in a fight in the 2nd period and held his own landing a couple good punches.
| Ethan Whitcomb | Muskegon Lumberjacks | USHL | L | RW | 6’4″ | 209 | Nebraska Omaha | 2024 | St. Catherines, ON | 2004 | 2023-2024: C+ 2022-2023: C+ 2021-2022: C+ |
Game Grade: C+
Comments: Whitcomb had a shoot first mentality when entering the offensive zone. As a bigger forward, he could use his size and strength to get to the hard areas of the ice and when getting there would get shots towards the net. At times forced it a little to much and created some turnovers, but ultimately was able to create offense by getting pucks to the net front area. He is no doubt a leader for this group.
| Hunter Anderson | Muskegon Lumberjacks | USHL | L | LW | 5’9″ | 185 | Denver | 2024 | Manhattan Beach, CA | 2005 | 2023-2024: C |
Game Grade: B
Comments: Anderson has a shot first mentality and will do whatever it takes to get pucks to the net. If he is attacking off the rush, there is a good chance he will use his quick release to get shots towards the net to either score or create a rebound. When picking up pucks in the offensive zone – he will keep his feet moving and jam pucks to the net-front area. For example, when Anderson grabbed pucks behind the net and felt less pressure he would put a shoulder down and try wraparounds or passes out front.
| Jack Galanek | Muskegon Lumberjacks | USHL | L | C | 5’11” | 173 | UMass Amherst | 2024 | Hopkinton, MA | 2006 | 2023-2024: C |
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Offensively Galanek is one of those players that manages to get lost in the offensive zone. He sneaks into the soft spots, unseen and can corral pucks quickly to get them on net. By doing so he creates offense on second chance opportunities, especially because he is able to get shots on net in the tight areas. Defensively he is going to have to improve his puck management as he had a few soft plays into center ice that led to his linemates getting caught going the wrong direction and in turn meant odd man rushes heading into his defensive zone.
| David Klee | Muskegon Lumberjacks | USHL | L | F | 6’3″ | 188 | North Dakota | 2024 | Syracuse, NY | 2005 | 2022-2023: C |
Game Grade: B+
Comments: Klee is a bigger forward who has the skills and traits of a power-forward. Owns a nice set of hands and was able to put them on display during the PP, multiple times. Caught pucks low, protected the puck with his hands and body, and could distribute the puck to his teammates in scoring areas. Showed good puck poise as he held onto pucks instead of throwing them away blindly. In addition to his puck skills, plays on the edge and isn’t afraid to throw his body weight around. Will make some big hits and times, go out of his way looking for them. He assisted on the 1st and only goal for Muskegon, as he caught a low pass on the PP, held onto it long enough to drag a defender towards him and sauced a back-door pass to his teammate who made no mistake scoring.
| Xavier Veilleux | Muskegon Lumberjacks | USHL | L | D | 6’0″ | 190 | Harvard | 2024 | L’Ancienne-Lorette, QC | 2006 | 2023-2024: C+ |
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Veilleux was excellent on the penalty kill all night. Played with grit, tenacity and was intense on pucks. If he saw a bobbled puck, he read the play accordingly and attacked the puck carrier. By doing so, he created chaos and panic in his opponents, which at times led to clears (for his team). Blocked shots, and won battles either net front or along the walls.
| Filip Nordberg | Muskegon Lumberjacks | USHL | L | D | 6’4″ | 212 | Stockholm, SWE | 2004 | 2021-2022: B- |
Game Grade: A-
Comments: Nordberg is a solid 2-way defender who plays well on both sides of the puck. As a bigger defenseman, has quicker feet than expected which allows him to retrieve pucks in his own end and move them up ice. Additionally, he has good edge-work allowing him to skate into the offensive zone and control the puck with his head up, utilizing his edges to maintain time and space with the puck. His ability to control the play with his puck control and skating led to offense for his teammates. Was solid on the PP as he didn’t panic with pucks and was able to get some shots through from the point.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images