A trio of California natives have been named monthly award winners for the USPHL’s Pacific Division.

Jett Arminen and Ari Rossi, both of the Lake Tahoe Lakers, are Forwards of the Month, while San Diego Sabers netminder Justin Lakin is the Goaltender of the Month.

Arminen, a 2001 birth year from San Diego, certainly enjoyed his first USPHL Premier season in 2020-21, putting together a 41-point season and getting a chance to play in the USPHL National Championships with Fresno.

This year, he jumped to the brand-new Lakers and has already pushed past those already lofty totals of last year, posting 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points – all in just 11 games.

He has never missed scoring in a game, nor has he scored just one point in a game – they’ve all been multi-point efforts, culminating in a five-goal, three-assist effort on Oct. 15.

The Lakers also came upon a great talent when Rossi, a 2002-born Santa Rosa native, was seen playing for Tahoe Prep Academy last season.

Joining Arminen on Lake Tahoe’s top line, he has been dishing out his fair share of assists – a league-leading 24 helpers to be exact – as well as nine goals for 33 points in just 12 games this season.

After going pointless in his very first game, he hasn’t looked back and brings an active 11-game point streak into November, including 10 points in the final three games of October against Fresno. Rossi also leads the Lakers in hits with 10.

During his youth days, Rossi played for the San Jose Jr. Sharks and Santa Rosa Flyers.

The Sabers as a team may have struggled so far this year, but Lakin has been extremely sound as the last line of defense.

The Wildomar native has a .936 save percentage, which places him in the top 15 out of more than 120 goaltenders league-wide, and his personal 2.96 goals-against average is impressive on a team with an overall team GAA of 4.50. He made a season-high 58 saves in a loss to the Las Vegas Thunderbirds.

In just four games, he has faced a total of 187 shots and given up just 12 goals, including making 34 of 35 stops in a 2-1 win over the Long Beach Shredders on Oct. 2.

In his youth career, Lakin (pictured top) played for the Jr. Reign and Wildcats and for Corona/Norco in the high school ranks.

(November 5, 2021)