The playoffs have arrived! The Johnstown Tomahawks are set to travel to the garden state to face off with their East Division rivals, the New Jersey Titans, in what promises to be a hard-fought first-round introduction into the exciting NAHL playoff season.
HOW THE SEASON SHAPED UP
The Tomahawks finished up the regular season with a strong 3-2 win over the East Division’s #2 seed Maryland Black Bears. Entering the playoffs, the Tomahawks are the East Division #5 seed after a tightly contested battle with New Jersey for the 4th seed (which would have granted home ice), during the last week of the regular season.
New Jersey was also victorious in their final game of the regular season as they defeated the Rochester Jr. Americans by a score of 2-1. The Titans will begin their playoff run as the East Division #4 seed and will play all three games of the first round series on home ice at Middletown Ice World Arena.
SEASON SERIES RECAP
The division rivals faced off six times throughout the regular season and here’s how things played out:
- October series in New Jersey
- October 25th – Johnstown pulled off the nail-biting 4-3 victory, led the season series 1-0.
- October 26th – New Jersey responded well the following night, winning a barnburner 7-6 in Overtime, season series tied at 1-1.
- Late January/February series in Johnstown
- January 31st – Johnstown dominates in a 5-2 victory to regain the season series lead 2-1.
- February 1st – Johnstown pulls out another 3-1 victory getting a commanding grip on the season series 3-1
- March series in New Jersey
- March 21st – New Jersey defeats the Hawks by a score of 5-3, season series now 3-2
- March 22nd – New Jersey caps off the season series with a 4-1 victory, the season series finished at JHN: 3-2-1 | NJ: 3-3-0.
New Jersey clearly seemed to find their game in the latter stages of the season, sweeping the Tomahawks to carry the minute upper-hand heading into the playoffs, at least in the momentum category. Both teams are entering the playoffs on a one-game winning streak so with both teams in winning form, a good series is likely upon us.
Albeit a rather irrelevant stat when it comes to the ever-changing style of play in the NAHL, it’s interesting to note that the All-Time Head-to-Head record between these two teams heavily favors the Tomahawks. Through 94 games played the Tomahawks carry a 50-36-5-3 record vs the Titans, while on the other side the Titans are 44-43-5-2.
JOHNSTOWN TOMAHAWKS
- 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)
- 6-3-1 record in last 10
- Strengths:
- Goaltending
- Offensive skill/Defensive production
- Discipline (fewest PIM in NAHL)
- Key momentum – Strong record in last 10 games while also coming off of a victory.
NEW JERSEY TITANS
- 32-20-7 (17-9-4 HOME | 15-11-3 AWAY)
- 71 points – 4th in East
- 195GF/196GA (-1 Goal Diff.)
- Special Teams:
- PP – 56/236 (24%) | PP HOME – 30/114 (26%) | PP AWAY – 26/122 (21%)
- PK – 167/206 (81%) | PK HOME – 83/102 (81%) | PK AWAY – 84/104 (81%)
- 1,178 PIM – 7th highest in NAHL
- 6-3-1 record in last 10
- Strengths:
- Powerplay (2nd in NAHL)
- Home-Ice Advantage
- Key momentum – Strong last 10 games record, also coming off of a victory over the East leading Rochester Jr. Americans.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
JOHNSTOWN
| 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 |
GOALTENDING
| NICK AVAKYAN | 25GP | 13W | 7L | 3OTL | .925SV% | 2.40GAA | 755SA | 57GA | 1 SO |
| WILL BAKER | 3GP | 2W | 1L | 0OTL | .950SV% | 1.57GAA | 60SA | 3GA | 0 SO |
NEW JERSEY
| JACK HILLIER | 56GP | 18G | 52A | 70P |
| ALEX PAPASPYROPOULOS | 53GP | 25G | 38A | 63P |
| RYAN FRIEDMAN | 59GP | 17G | 33A | 50P |
| OWEN LEAHY | 59GP | 22G | 23A | 45P |
| RYAN NOVO | 53GP | 24G | 20A | 44P |
GOALTENDING
| AUSTIN MCNICHOLAS | 43GP | 23W | 16L | 4OTL | .916SV% | 3.00GAA | 1505SA | 126GA | 1 SO |
KEY MATCHUPS/STORYLINES
New Jersey brings a much higher scoring top end of their forward group with their top four scorers all with 44 points that is one more than the Tomahawks leading scorer, Adam Ondris (43).
The Tomahawks will skate into Friday night with some more depth than the Titans as they focus on a balanced attack. There are 12 Tomahawks players who have registered at least 20 points this season which tells the story on how they like to get everybody involved and playing their roles.
Being considered the underdog by at least the lower-seed perspective, the Tomahawks have a chance to “upset” the Titans thanks to their fantastic goaltending and ability to stay out of the penalty box. Nick Avakyan finished at 10th in the NAHL in SV%, while New Jersey’s Austin McNicholas was 21st. Avakyan was middle of the pack at 15th in GAA, McNicholas was 32nd with north of a 3.00.
The Tomahawks are entering the playoffs with a rookie head coach in Jared Kersner, who has done well in getting his team into the playoffs in his inaugural season. After somewhat of an expected sloppy start, the Tomahawks found their stride after the first 1/4 of the season and at one point rattled off 11 wins in 13 games getting them back into the mix.
The Tomahawks and the Titans have a pretty strong history of facing each other in the Robertson Cup Playoffs, this weekend is only going to add to it. A matchup in the semi-finals of the Roberston Cup a few years ago has sparked the rivalry and it’s been prevalent ever since.
The Tomahawks Road to the Robertson Cup begins now! Don’t miss any of the action and tune in on NATV!
SCHEDULE
- GAME 1: 4/11/25 – Middletown Ice World Arena | 7:30PM
- GAME 1: 4/12/25 – Middletown Ice World Arena | 6:00PM
- GAME 3 (If necessary): 4/13/25 – Middletown Ice World Arena | 5:30PM
BY: DREW P. PFEIL | drew@johnstowntomahawks.com