TOMAHAWKS TRAVEL TO MARYLAND TO TAKE ON DEFENDING CHAMPION BLACK BEARS

Johnstown Tomahawks at Maryland Black Bears

NAHL Regular Season, Games 2 & 3 of 59

FRI 7:00p.m. ET;  SAT 7:00p.m. ET;  WATCH ON NATV

ODENTON, MD. —  To become the champs, you’ve first got to beat the champs. The Johnstown Tomahawks will look to do just that as they head back on the road this weekend to take on the defending Robertson Cup Champion Maryland Black Bears for games two and three of the young season. 

The matchup will be the first of four meetings during the season, as each member of the updated East Division will play the other seven teams eight times apiece following the departure of the Maine Nordiques and Rochester Jr. Americans from the league. The new structure of the division could make what was already considered by some to be the “most competitive division in the NAHL” even more competitive, while allowing more opportunities for rivalries to form with the 120+ additional minutes each team will see against one another. Nothing will change in terms of how many teams make the playoffs in the East, with the top six teams still advancing to the postseason, leaving just two teams on the outside looking in. 

A Look Back At Last Season

Matching up with the Black Bears four times within the first month and a half of the season gave the Tomahawks a first hand look at what was building in Maryland. They were an unstoppable force that started after their first loss in the first game of the season in early in September, all the way to the Robertson Cup Championship Game in May and they rarely slowed down. Maryland lost back to back games on just two occasions during the season. Neither set of those losses came in the same weekend, meaning they either split or swept every series they played. 

The season series between Johnstown and Maryland had its share of tight, competitive moments for sure, but the majority of play over the six games was completely dominated by the Black Bears. The series opened in mid-October in Johnstown, where Maryland walked away with two multi-goal victories and outshot the Tomahawks by a total of 67-45 over the weekend. There would be little time for the Hawks to dwell on the results, though, as the following weekend marked the backend of the home-and-home series, with the two teams traveling to each other’s home ice. Again Maryland was the better team, sending the Tomahawks packing with another pair of decisive multi-goal victories. Three months passed before the conclusion of the season series between the two rivals and the squads couldn’t have found themselves in more opposite situations. The Black Bears were comfortably sitting at #1 in the division and the Tomahawks were amidst a final push for the playoffs and needed every point they could get. However, the Black Bears went on to complete the season-series sweep of Johnstown, winning by a combined score of 29-12 and outshooting the Hawks’ 223-121 over the six contests.

OCT 17 – 1-5 L  |  1ST SUMMIT ARENA

OCT 18 – 3-6 L  |  1ST SUMMIT ARENA

OCT 24 – 1-4 L  |  at PINEY ORCHARD ARENA

OCT 25 – 2-5 L  |  at PINEY ORCHARD ARENA

FEB 6 – 1-4 L  |  at PINEY ORCHARD ARENA

FEB 7 – 3-4 L  |  at PINEY ORCHARD ARENA

Tomahawks Season Outlook

The entire Tomahawks organization has extremely high expectations for the 2026-27 season after a disappointing conclusion to last year where they missed the playoffs by five points. The Hawks will bring back 12 skaters (J. Genovese, E. Kensey, K. Perler, D. Domokejevs, J. Ingstrup, C. Griffin, T. Kertz, P. Morris, E. Coots, A. Gomes, D. Peterson and J. Chiras) who played in at least 15 games with the team last season, putting Johnstown among the East Division teams with the highest rate of returning players. After the departure of team captain Nick Jarmain who led the team in both points and goals (4th in NAHL) last season, Head Coach Geoffrey Beauparlant appointed two-way veteran forward and Quinnipiac University commit Jack Genovese as the 13th captain in team history. “Geno” has become a beloved part of the city of Johnstown and especially within the Tomahawks fanbase with his unmatched energy on and off the ice. He contributes on both ends of the rink and especially in the face-off dot and is a fantastic teammate. Jack was an assistant captain last season and was named Defensive Player of the Year and Unsung Hero for the team. The Hawks will skate out a “mostly” new group of net minders to begin the season after the departure of Zack Ferris (age-out) and the call-up of Nikita Oleksiienko (USHL). Matthew Wood joins the team following the folding of the Maine Nordiques, where he appeared in 21 games. Dylan Bourque comes to Johnstown after playing in 43 games for the Niagara Falls Canucks of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL). Lastly, Luc Beauparlant who is the son of Head Coach Geoffrey Beauparlant, joins the team after playing for the Philadelphia Hockey Club U18 program and also appeared in one NAHL game last season in Johnstown where he impressed, allowing two goals on 25 shots for a .925 SV% despite a shootout loss. 

Black Bears Season Outlook

The defending champs had about a 30-second hangover from last season’s dominant run as they gave up the first goal of the game at 19:30 of the first period during their season opener last weekend. What followed was 119 and a half minutes of the same shutdown, dominant hockey that frustrated the entire East Division last year. Maryland scored the remaining eight goals on the weekend for two decisive victories over the Philadelphia Rebels by scores of 5-1 and 3-0 respectively to begin their title defense. Despite losing their top nine point producers from a season ago, including six players who averaged at least a point per game, the Black Bears will enter the season with a retooled roster. Among those departures was Harrison Smith, who led the NAHL in scoring with 96 points in 49 games (24G, 72A), while also earning regular-season MVP honors and being named the Robertson Cup Playoffs tournament MVP. The Black Bears retooled quickly with key additions through the NAHL Entry Draft, trades and players who became available following the departures of both Maine and Rochester. An off-season blockbuster deal to acquire Tanner Terranova and Matt Shpungin from Danbury has paid off already through the first two games of their season and they’ll look to fill gaps left if any, from the Maryland departures. The Black Bears also enter the season with two new goaltenders after Ryan Denes and Dominic Gatto both aged out. Michael Iliff and Cole Werthman will handle the goaltending duties to begin the season, both of whom had strong showings in their debuts last weekend, highlighted by a 3-0 shutout victory for Iliff.

KEYS TO THE MATCHUP

JTN: It was a bit of an unorthodox start to the season for Johnstown, as multiple schedule adjustments were made before the team finally opened the season with a disappointing road loss to Northeast last weekend, playing just one game. As he prepares for his first full season behind the bench for the Tomahawks, Head Coach Geoff Beauparlant will look to rebound his team in Week Two—and what better way to do so than by making a statement on the road against the defending champions. Tomahawks forward C.J List was an offensive catalyst for Johnstown during the lone contest last weekend scoring two goals in his NAHL debut. Forward Jacob Duval scored the first goal of the game for the Hawks’ after scoring twice in the exhibition contest versus Youngstown (USHL) in August. Both players look primed for high-levels of production within a highly-skilled group of Tomahawks forwards. Johnstown will need to match the physicality level that Maryland has brought for many years now and more importantly find ways to score at a moments notice. That starts with getting pucks on the net anyway they can, if they can turn the tides and win a shots on goal battle (outshot in all six contests last season) in the opening showdown, they can set themselves up with confidence for Saturday, as well as for the remainder of the season. 

MYD: Although it’s still a relatively small sample size, key additions up front and a retooled backend have the Black Bears looking like a mirror image of last year’s team through the first two games of the season. No matter what teams are involved, if you can hold an opponent off the scoreboard for almost six straight periods of hockey, you’ve got something special. Head Coach Clint Mylymok seems to have figured out what makes his team click, no matter the personnel, and will look to replicate his recent success against the Tomahawks this weekend. Keep an eye out for Tanner Terranova and Matt Shpungin, both players who came over in the offseason trade with Danbury. Shpungin terrorized the Tomahawks last season with Danbury, recording eight points (6G, 2A) through just six games. Terranova recorded just one assist. The Black Bears are also trying to recreate some Sedin Brother magic after drafting a pair of twins in this past summer’s NAHL Entry Draft. The Gauthier brothers, Brandon and Jesse both made their NAHL debuts last Friday night for the Black Bears and connected for a goal as Jesse scored his first of the season from Zhenya Miles and his brother Brandon. Joe Gasperko came over from the Maine Nordiques after recording 30PTS (13G, 17A) in 54GP along with 71PIM. In the six contests versus the Tomahawks, Gasperko was productive, scoring twice and adding two assists for four points.