Drake Glover of Anchorage won the Southern Professional Hockey League’s goal-scoring title with 33 markers to help lift his Birmingham Bulls to the President’s Cup as regular-season champions.
The former Seawolves forward kept it up in the playoffs last week.
His team didn’t.
Despite Glover’s playoff-leading four goals, the top-seeded Bulls fell to the eighth-seeded Evansville Thunderbolts in three games. Evansville won decisive Game 3, 5-4, on the road in OT on Saturday night.
Glover furnished a power-play goal and a primary assist in Birmingham’s 5-4 win in Game 1. He scored Birmingham’s only goal, again on the power play, in its 2-1 OT loss in Game 2. And he scored two power-play goals, including the game-tying strike with less than four minutes left in regulation, in Saturday’s season-ending OT loss. He also fired 10 shots on goal in that game.
So, Glover scored four of his team’s nine playoff goals and had a hand in five of those goals. His 20 shots on goal led the first round. Alas, for Glover, who owns 6-3—9 totals in nine career playoff games, end of season.
DRAKE GLOVER IS A MANIAC. 🚨
Top goal scorer in the SPHL. @SPHL https://t.co/J1FjoLCFpt
— BirminghamSports (@BirminghamSport) April 11, 2024
Better circumstances for Peoria Rivermen winger Cayden Cahill of Anchorage. The Rivermen, the No. 2 seed, swept the Pensacola ice Flyers, 3-2 in OT courtesy of Cahill’s dagger on Thursday, and 6-1 Saturday. The Rivermen face Evansville in the best-of-3 semifinals starting Wednesday.
Cahill’s OT goal, on a breakaway backhander, came with just 70 seconds left in OT. It marked his first career playoff goal.
Cahill’s contribution to the series-closing win was, well, more painful. With Peoria leading 4-1 in the third period, Pensacola’s Jordan Henderson received a major penalty for his high-speed boarding of Cahill, who got up and skated to the bench. The Riverman scored twice on the extended power play.
Meanwhile, the ECHL closed its regular season over the weekend.
Savannah Ghost Pirates goaltender Michael Bullion in his last start of the season delivered a 28-save, 3-0 shutout of Greenville on Saturday night for his fourth bagel, which tied him for the league lead. Bullion was pressed into duty Sunday midway through the game, trailing Greenville 4-0. He stopped 12 of 13 shots in the 5-1 loss to finish the season 15-10-3, with a 2.77 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.
Bullion’s record looks nice, especially given Savannah finished four games below .500 (30-34—8). In the last two seasons, Bullion has gone nine games above .500 (24-15-3) for a franchise that is 10 games below .500 (58-68-18) in that span.
Kansas City Mavericks center Nolan Walker notched an assist Tuesday to extend his point streak to a career-high 12 games (8-9—17). The streak was snapped in Saturday’s season finale. Still, he’s savored a dynamite sophomore campaign as a pro with 34-34—68 scoring totals and a plus-25 rating in 63 games to finish 15th in the league in scoring.
Kansas City will face the Tulsa Oilers in a best-of-7, Kelly Cup first-round series that opens Wednesday. Tulsa forward Alec Butcher of Anchorage finished with 22-19—41 totals in 71 games to pocket his third straight season of 20-plus goals.
Finally, in the United States Hockey League, Fargo Force forward Mac Swanson of Anchorage finished third on the circuit in points, and first in assists, with 26-51—77 totals in 55 games. He also tied for first in the league in plus-minus at plus-39.
According to Brad Elliot Schlossman of the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, Swanson’s 77 points tie him with Jackson Blake for the most USHL single-season points by a North Dakota recruit in the last 20 years.
Also, in the USHL, Sioux City forward Colin Kessler of Anchorage, committed to Vermont, scored 4-5—9 totals in his last seven games of the season to finish with 15-20—35 totals in 59 games.
Both Fargo and Sioux City earned first-round playoff byes.