Your Johnstown Tomahawks are onto the Second Round! The Johnstown Tomahawks are set to travel to Rochester, New York to take on the East Division champion Rochester Jr. Americans. The Tomahawks will continue their chase for the Robertson Cup over the course of the next 2-3 weeks.
MATCHUP PREVIEW
The Tomahawks are entering the second round in great form after sweeping the New Jersey Titans on the road in a three-game series. The Hawks won each of the two games by three goals (6-3, 5-2).
Rochester enters the playoffs after their first-round bye which they earned for being the East Division champion. The Jr. Americans last game action came on April 5th in a losing effort against the New Jersey Titans. By the time the puck drops this weekend, the Americans will have gone 13 full days without playing a game. It’s going to be interesting to see how the rest treats them, whether positively or negatively.
SEASON SERIES RECAP
The division foes faced off six times throughout the regular season and here’s how things played out:
- October series in Johnstown
- October 18th – Johnstown captures the tight 2-1 victory, leads season series 1-0.
- October 19th – Johnstown wins another one-goal game 4-3, sweeps to make season series 2-0.
- December series in Johnstown
- December 6th – Rochester gets in the win column by winning 4-2, season series moves to 2-1.
- December 7th – Rochester caps off the sweep with 5-4 victory, series all nodded up at 2-2.
- March series in Rochester
- March 28th – Johnstown wins first road game of series 3-1, season series back in their favor at 3-2.
- March 29th – Johnstown handles Rochester in finale with a 6-2 drumming, season series finishes at 4-2.
An interesting storyline from the six-game series was that it was dominated by sweeps. It’s rare to see things play out this way, especially with how tightly contested most NAHL matchups tend to be. However, the two teams are set become more familiar with each other than they have all season with the series set to span the course of two straight weekends with the potential to reach the Monday of the third week.
With Rochester playing in just their second season in the NAHL, there isn’t nearly as much storied history as there was with New Jersey, but the six regular season meetings between these teams brought their fair share of animosity—setting the stage for what should be an exciting playoff series.
JOHNSTOWN TOMAHAWKS
REGULAR SEASON
- 31-23-5 (14-12-3 HOME | 17-11-2 AWAY)
- 67 points – 5th in East
- 183GF/188GA (-5 Goal Diff.)
- Special Teams:
- PP – 36/204 (17%) | PP HOME – 17/94 (18%) | PP AWAY – 19/110 (17%)
- PK – 135/165 (82%) | PK HOME – 67/78 (86%) | PK AWAY – 68/87 (78%)
- 617 PIM for fewest in NAHL, fewest in East by 300+ min. (PHI-925)
PLAYOFFS
- 2-0-0 (0-0-0 HOME | 2-0-0 AWAY)
- 11GF/5GA (+6 Goal Diff.)
- Outshot 88-80
- 16 Total PIM | 8 PIM/G which is lower than season avg. (10.7 PIM/G – Lowest in NAHL)
- Special Teams:
- PP – 2/4 (50%) | PP HOME – 0/0 (NA) | PP AWAY – 2/4 (50%)
- PK – 8/8 (100%) | PK HOME – 0/0 (NA) | PK AWAY – 8/8 (100%)
- 7-3-0 record in last 10 overall
- Strengths:
- Goaltending
- Offensive skill/Defensive production
- Discipline (fewest PIM in NAHL)
- Key momentum – Strong sweep of New Jersey in first round of, currently riding a three-game win streak.
ROCHESTER JR. AMERICANS
- 39-12-8 (22-4-4 HOME | 17-8-4 AWAY)
- 86 points – 1st in East (4th overall in NAHL)
- 224GF/141GA (+83 Goal Diff.)
- Special Teams:
- PP – 58/262 (22%) | PP HOME – 30/133 (23%) | PP AWAY – 28/129 (22%)
- PK – 218/251 (87%) | PK HOME – 116/132 (88%) | PK AWAY – 102/119 (86%)
- 6-3-1 record in last 10
- Strengths:
- #3 Goals Scored in NAHL (GF), #5 in Goals Against (GA)
- Home-Ice Advantage (22-4-4 at home)
- Goaltending
- Key momentum – Strong all season long, regarded as one of the league’s top teams.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
JOHNSTOWN
REGULAR SEASON LEADERS
| ADAM ONDRIS | 57GP | 24G | 19A | 43P |
| CULLEN EMERY | 53GP | 18G | 21A | 39P |
| SAM BLANTON | 57GP | 13G | 24A | 37P |
| CADEN OLENCZAK | 58GP | 6G | 30A | 36P |
| CHARLIE ZETTERKVIST | 46GP | 17G | 16A | 33P |
PLAYOFF LEADERS
| NICK WHITE | 2GP | 2G | 2A | 4P |
| DYLAN SHANE | 2GP | 2G | 1A | 3P |
| ANDREW COWGILL | 2GP | 1G | 2A | 3P |
| CULLEN EMERY | 2GP | 0G | 3A | 3P |
| HANK REED | 2GP | 1G | 1A | 2P |
GOALTENDING
| NICK AVAKYAN | 25GP | 13W | 7L | 3OTL | .925SV% | 2.40GAA | 755SA | 57GA | 1 SO |
| NICK AVAKYAN (PLAYOFFS) | 2GP | 2W | 0L | 0OTL | .943SV% | 2.50GAA | 88SA | 5GA | 0 SO |
| WILL BAKER | 3GP | 2W | 1L | 0OTL | .950SV% | 1.57GAA | 60SA | 3GA | 0 SO |
ROCHESTER
REGULAR SEASON
| CALLE KARLSSON | 59GP | 31G | 42A | 73P |
| ADAM GIONTA | 57GP | 28G | 37A | 65P |
| OWEN KING | 57GP | 24G | 34A | 58P |
| JADEN DYKE | 56GP | 20G | 35A | 55P |
| HUGO BRANTHSSON | 49GP | 19G | 25A | 44P |
GOALTENDING
| DANICK LEROUX | 42GP | 32W | 5L | 3OTL | .927SV% | 1.97GAA | 1107SA | 81GA | 6 SO |
KEY MATCHUPS/STORYLINES
The Johnstown Tomahawks skate into the matchup with a middling scoring output, ranking 18th in the NAHL in goals for (183) —a stark contrast to the high-flying Jr. Americans, who boast the league’s third-ranked offense (224GF). Thus, leading to yet another series where the Tomahawks regular season leading scorer Adam Ondris (43) was at least a point shy of each of Rochester’s top five scorers.
The Tomahawks will certainly have some sort of advantage on their side, given their two games of 2025 Playoff action so far. Also, the Tomahawks should have no concerns about what they are capable of when facing off against this Rochester team because they controlled the season series handily.
When you enter any playoff tournament as a 5-seed, it’s likely that you will be considered the underdog in almost every series. After sweeping the New Jersey Titans — which was just a 5-seed/4seed separation, the Tomahawks will face off against the 1-seed Jr. Americans, creating an even heftier underdog narrative in Round 2. After allowing just five-goals on 88 shots during the first two games, Nick Avakyan remains in elite form as he will once again be asked to backstop the Tomahawks towards victory.
As fans of hockey, we could be in store for an all-time goaltending matchup over the next two-weeks. We will likely see a heavy dose of Danick Leroux (Rochester) and Nick Avakyan (Johnstown) as they will both likely bear the title of each team’s X-Factor, which could be considered a hockey cliche, but in the playoffs there is no denying that goaltending is the ultimate difference maker.
After allowing just five-goals on 88 shots during the first two games, Nick Avakyan remains in elite form as he will once again be asked to backstop the Tomahawks towards victory. Since joining the Tomahawks in November, Avakyan boasts a 13-7-3 record with an impressive .925 SV% and a 2.41GAA. Avakyan has faced the Jr. Americans just three times allowing just seven goals combined, sporting a 2-1 record.
Danick Leroux enters the series with a jaw-dropping 32-5-3 record, a .927 SV% (7th in NAHL) and 1.97GAA (8th in NAHL). In the five matchups that the Hawks have faced off against Leroux, they’ve scored just two goals in all but one where they scored four. Since he made his NAHL debut in January 2024, no goaltender has more wins AND shutouts than Leroux.
The Tomahawks and the Jr. Americans have yet to face off in the playoffs, but the proof is there. Rochester holds the all-time series lead at 8-5-0 while the Tomahawks aren’t too far behind at 6-7-1. This should be an electric series that provides fans everything that is great about the NAHL and the game of hockey. Speed, skill, physicality, and goaltending.
The Tomahawks Road to the Robertson Cup continues THIS WEEKEND! Don’t miss any of the action and tune in on NATV!
SCHEDULE
- GAME 1: 4/18/25 – Middletown Ice World Arena | 7:00PM
- GAME 2: 4/19/25 – Middletown Ice World Arena | 7:00PM
- GAME 3: 4/25/25 – 1st Summit Arena | 7:30PM
- GAME 4: (If necessary): 4/26/25 – 1st Summit Arena | 7:00PM
- GAME 5: (If necessary): 4/28/25 – Rochester Ice Center | 7:00PM
BY: DREW P. PFEIL | drew@johnstowntomahawks.com