Forward: Hayden Haldane, Florida Eels.

The second-year Eels player from Clifton Park, N.Y., enjoyed a very productive November, scoring eight points in the Eels’ nine contests that month. The Eels are in a very tight race - as they will likely be for the rest of the season - for first in the Florida Division with the DME Swamp Rabbits, who were the only team to best the Eels in November.

Their seven-game winning streak carried right through the Islanders Hockey Club Showcase, where the Eels proved they could win outside of the South, going 4-0 there.

Haldane, a ‘98, scored three goals (all on the power play) and had five assists during the Eels’ big November. He now has a team-leading 32 points through 23 games played, blasting past his full-season 18-point total from 2017-18.

Honorable Mention: Daniil Avdioukhin, DME Swamp Rabbits; Oliver Freden, Hampton Roads Whalers.

Defense: Ilja Grekovs, DME Swamp Rabbits.

Grekovs, a ‘99 from Liebaja, Latvia, is another two-way defenseman, something for which the USPHL is fast becoming known.

Offensively, Grekovs posted 10 points in his eight November games, over which the Swamp Rabbits went 6-1-0-1, and exited the month with a very respectable 2.4 team goals against average. Grekovs scored points in seven of those games, while DME gave up three goals or less in six of their eight games last month.

Two wins over the Florida Eels gave the Swamp Rabbits a three-point lead for first place in the Florida Division, including a 5-1 win on Nov. 30 in Daytona.

Grekovs closed November as DME’s second-leading scorer with 28 points in 24 games, good for a tie for sixth in the entire USPHL Premier among defensemen. DME defensemen occupy three of the top five scoring spots on the team.

Honorable Mention: Yan Kalinovskiy, Florida Eels; Lukas Aaw, Florida Eels.

Goal: Tyler Roy, Tampa Bay Juniors.

Roy, a three-year junior veteran, had easily his best month in net. In his three appearances in November, he went 2-0-1, giving up just six goals on 105 shots for a .940 save percentage.

In each of Roy’s November games, he faced overtime, and he gave up no more than two goals in each of those games, losing only to the Jersey Shore Whalers in a 2-1 matchup at the Islanders Hockey Club Showcase on Nov. 18.

Roy (‘98/Brighton, Mich.) helped Tampa Bay to its first month over .500, during which they went 3-2-2 to give them some distance in the Florida Division at third place above fourth. He now stands with a .911 save percentage on the season in 10 appearances.

Honorable Mention: Gage Roberts, Carolina Eagles; Viktor Paulsson, Florida Eels.

CHICAGO - The Decatur Blaze returned from the Thanksgiving break playing competitive hockey, but ultimately fell in two straight games over the weekend to the Chicago Cougars at the Leaf Centre.

Friday night, Alek Lorsung score the lone goal and Cameron Bernard made 37 saves in a 4-1 loss.

Then Saturday night, Anthony Bertrame scored and Daniil Burmatov (pictured) finished with 37 saves, but the Blaze suffered a 3-1 loss.

The next games for Decatur are Dec. 7-9 in Detroit against the Detroit Fighting Irish.

Game times are 6:30 p.m. Central Friday and Saturday and then 3 p.m. on Sunday.

All Blaze games will be streamed on www.HockeyTV.com.