A California native and a Las Vegas native were named USPHL Premier Players of the Week for the West Region for games played Feb. 11-18.

In the Mountain Division, the Provo Riverblades’ Jack Blake was named Defenseman of the Week.

Blake is a 2001-born native of Los Angeles, and a Bowling Green State University recruit (following the footsteps of his father, Hockey Hall of Fame honored member and LA Kings GM Rob Blake). The younger Blake posted a goal and two assists as Provo improved to a 10-0 streak and jumped above .500 on the season. He was plus-3 and had 12 takeaways the last three games.

As a youth player, Blake starred for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings.

Over in the Pacific Division, Anthony Bonaldi of the Las Vegas Thunderbirds earned recognition as Goaltender of the Week.

Bonaldi, a 2001 birth year out of Las Vegas, continues to help his hometown team.

He improved to 12-5-2 on the season as he recently went 1-1 against the Fresno Monsters. He stopped 39 of 43 and three of four shootout attempts to give the Thunderbirds a huge victory against Fresno on Feb. 13. On Valentine’s Day, he stopped 42 shots in a losing effort against the same Monsters in another one-goal game.

(Feb. 23, 2021)