Series Preview: Showdown in Danbury

The 2025-26 season begins for the Port Huron Prowlers in the place where they clinched their first round playoff series in April: Danbury Ice Arena. The Prowlers and Hat Tricks will renew their rivalry after an explosive end to that series on Easter Sunday.

The Prowlers made some moves this offseason after a trip to the semifinals. The biggest was sending Tucker Scantlebury to the Monroe Moccasins for three players including defenseman Nick Favaro and forward Connor Bizal. The top line remains intact with Lukas Lacny, Matt Graham and Reggie Millette all returning and four defenseman are back, Alex Johnson, Ben Brockway, Brett Lockhart and Bryan Parsons. Reid Cooper takes the reins in net and, after his tandem partner Valtteri Nousiainen elected to play closer to home this season, he’s joined by rookies Bailey Huber and Reilly Moyer. 

The Hat Tricks’ biggest shakeups came off the ice. They hired AJ Galante as their new general manager and John Bierchen as head coach. Galante worked in the front office last season and takes the top role this year. He re-signed some core pieces, such as Jonny Ruiz and Josh Labelle and added some toughness in guys like Jesse Swanson. Bierchen takes over for last season’s co-head coaches, Ruiz and the now retired Kyle Gonzalez, after spending much of his career overseas. Danbury will be without starting goaltender Connor McCollum this season and have three remaining in training camp as of Wednesday: veteran backup Frankie McClendon, last season’s third stringer Andrew LoRusso, and free agent camp signee Kyle Penton.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Prowlers - Ben Brockway (D) - A lot of attention will be on Brockway after he “planted the flag” at center ice following Port Huron’s series-clinching win in Danbury last April. Expect fireworks during his first shift.

Hat Tricks - Frankie McClendon (G) - The 32-year-old has been a backup for his entire nine-season FPHL career, never being the goaltender of record more than 19 games in a season. Can he take control in a starting role in season 10?

STAT CENTRAL

This will be the second year in a row the Prowlers open the season against a team they faced in the playoffs the previous spring (Carolina in 2024-25) … The Hat Tricks have played at home on their opening weekend every season of their existence … This is the third time the Prowlers begin their season in Danbury. They swept the Hat Tricks with a pair of OT wins in 2019 and got swept in 2021 by way of a regulation loss and OT loss

SERIES SCHEDULE

Oct. 10, 7:30 P.M. at Danbury Ice Arena (Danbury, CT)

Oct. 11, 7:00 P.M. at Danbury Ice Arena (Danbury, CT)

Both games will be streamed live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.