The Johnstown Tomahawks will get back on home ice this weekend to kick off back to back home stands, beginning with the East’s 3rd place Rochester Jr. Americans. Friday’s action will begin at 7:30PM and Saturday will be a 7:00PM start.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST SEASON
After three months, we’re set for another weekend of East Division showdowns against the Rochester Jr. Americans, the team who ended our season last year. Over the last year or so, the Jr. Americans have certainly become one of the Tomahawks biggest rivals and every game seems to carry a playoff feel to it.
Rochester is one of the newer teams to the North American Hockey League but you wouldn’t know that by looking at their success through the organization’s first few seasons. Through their first two full seasons and nearly half of their third, Rochester has an outstanding record of 108-44-9-11. The Tomahawks are in Year 13 and will look to string some wins together after seeming to be stuck in the mud of 6th place in the East for the last two months.
Last year the Tomahawks and Jr. Americans faced off six times just like every division foe, in which the Tomahawks won the season series comfortably winning four of the six games. Oddly enough, Rochester’s wins both came in Johnstown and every series during the regular season was a sweep for whoever won the Friday night game. Rochester went on to win the East Division and were slated to be a tough out once the schedule turned to April. The Tomahawks did in fact meet up with the Jr. Americans in the playoffs after getting past New Jersey in Round 1. The series was an all-time classic in Tomahawks history, as the Tomahawks found themselves down 2-0 in the series after dropping the first two games in Rochester. Clearly the Tomahawks and their loyal fans believed in the storied notion that a playoff series is never truly in jeopardy until you lose a game on home ice as the Tomahawks rattled off back to back overtime wins to stun the Jr. Americans and push it to a series deciding Game Five back in New York. The Tomahawks were ultimately left with a sour taste in their mouths all summer after getting out to a 4-1 lead after two periods in Game 5 but ended up allowing Rochester to make one of the most impressive comebacks you’ll ever see, winning the game 6-5 in OT and moving on.
OCT 18TH – 2-1 W IN JOHNSTOWN
OCT 19TH – 4-3 W IN JOHNSTOWN
DEC 6TH – 4-2 L IN JOHNSTOWN
DEC 7TH – 5-4 L IN JOHNSTOWN
MAR 28TH – 3-1 W AT ROCHESTER
MAR 29TH – 6-2 W AT ROCHESTER
PLAYOFFS* APR 18TH – 5-2 L AT ROCHESTER
PLAYOFFS* APR 19TH – 2-1 L AT ROCHESTER
PLAYOFFS* APR 25TH – 4-3 W IN JOHNSTOWN
PLAYOFFS* APR 26TH – 2-1 W IN JOHNSTOWN
PLAYOFFS* APR 28TH – 6-5 L AT ROCHESTER
2025-2026 SEASON SERIES SO FAR
OCT 10TH – 7-0 W AT ROCHESTER (1-0 JTN)
OCT 11TH – 12-3 L AT ROCHESTER (1-1)
JAN 23RD – TBD IN JOHNSTOWN
JAN 24TH – TBD IN JOHNSTOWN
FEB 27TH – TBD AT ROCHESTER
FEB 28TH – TBD AT ROCHESTER
2025-2026 KEYS TO THE MATCHUP
- Tomahawks come into action after somewhat of a disappointing series split against 9th place Elmira last weekend.
- The Jr. Americans have been on an insane tear since their last meeting with us in October, winning 20 of their last 24 games
- Through just two games with Rochester this season, there have been 22 total goals scored.
- The Tomahawks currently have the fifth lowest goals scored in the East with just 106 through their first 37 games but have only surrendered 119, good for a -13 differential.
- The Jr. Americans have turned it on offensively, as they’ve scored 132 goals in 35 games this season, good for 2nd in the East. They’ve also surrendered the second fewest goals in the East with 91.
- Johnstown is still led by their captain Nick Jarmain who is still firing above a pt/game pace through his first 37 games with 39pts (22G, 17A).
- The Tomahawks have now played their first two games without their 3rd highest scorer in Kalib Capecci and have accounted for just two goals in his absence.
- The Jr. Americans are led by forward Ryan Shaw who has put up an impressive 54 points in 34 games (29G, 25A) good for fourth-most in the NAHL.
- Shaw’s 29 goals are currently second most in the entire NAHL, just one behind Bismarck’s Cooper Williams (30)
GOALIE MATCHUP
JTN
- Ferris: 7-9-4-2 | 2.95GAA | .906 SV%
- Oleksiienko: 7-3-0-0 | 2.95GAA | .919 SV%
ROC
- Carlstrom: 13-8-0-0 | 2.76GAA | .900 SV%
- Wade: 11-3-0-0 | 2.24GAA | .915 SV%
BY: DREW P. PFEIL