The USPHL and NCDC have announced their monthly awards for December, featuring six players from California.

Jean-Sebastien Pack (Rancho Palos Verdes, Utah Outliers) is the NCDC Mountain Division Defenseman of the Month, Seth Morris (Rancho Cucamonga, Seattle Totems) is the Northwest Premier Division Forward of the Month, Michael Karvelas (Totems, Pasadena) is the Northwest Premier Defenseman of the Month, Nathan Rhodes (Carolina Jr. Hurricanes, Corona) is the Southeast Elite Division Forward of the Month, Josh Bruno (Northern Cyclones, Glendora) is the New England Elite Division Forward of the Month, and Nick Cowles (Cyclones, Irvine) is the New England Elite Goaltender of the Month.

The 2004-born Pack was a standout two-way threat for the Outliers for their strong December run as they tied for first in the league. He put up a goal and six assists for seven points and his 20:02 of ice time led the team. He was also second on the Outliers in blocked shots with 16 in December. He has 11 points in 29 games this season.

Back home, Pack played for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings.

With a 7-5-12 line over nine games in December, the ’06 Morris rose to become No. 2 on the Totems’ scoring leaderboard for the season with 32 points in 26 games for this year. He was the No. 1 forward tapped for duty, leading all Totems forwards in ice time in December at 19:46 per game. He also won 136 of 221 draws in December for a 62% success rate, in addition to also leading the Totems forwards in blocked shots with six. He started December with a hat trick on Dec. 1 against Bellingham.

During his youth hockey days, Morris skated for the California Wave, Empire Hockey Club, and Damien High School.

Karvelas, an ‘04 and Jr. Kings alum, posted nine points in nine games with a 3-6-9 line. Karvelas has put together 22 points in 28 games in this, his rookie junior season. Karvelas led the Totems with 25:02 of ice time per game, and was second on the team with a plus-5 rating and 12 blocked shots.

Rhodes, another ‘04, averaged 1.67 points per game for his team as they posted 10 points – all from assists – during the month of December, playing six games over that stretch. His plus-8 rating was second-best among Jr. Canes forwards as the defending national champions went undefeated on the month and stand on a nine-game winning streak. That’s only bettered by the Potomac Patriots’ 10-game winning streak and the Jr. Canes are fighting to overcome their two-point gap behind Potomac for the league lead.

Prior to the USPHL, Rhodes played with Empire, Wave, and Servite High School.

The 2004-born Bruno just rejoined the Cyclones in November and already has 23 points in 15 games. He put up a nine-game point streak that bridged November and December and contributed to a 10-point month with a 2-8-10 line in December. He now has 91 points in 57 Elite games.

Bruno skated his youth hockey days for Empire, Orange County Hockey Club, and the Jr. Kings.

Cowles, an ‘05, came to the Cyclones this year out of the much-renowned Anaheim Jr. Ducks program and won his first three games of December, including a huge victory against another nationals staple in the Florida Eels. He stopped all 20 shots for a shutout of the Eels, and took his only loss of the month to another nationals regular in Charlotte, stopping 29 of 32 in that game. Overall, he stopped 74 out of 78 shots for a .949 save percentage, a 1.01 goals against average and two shutouts.

In addition to the Jr. Ducks, Cowles saw time in the high school ranks for JSerra and Irvine United.

(January 10, 2024)