A couple of former University of Southern Maine student-athletes will be facing off in a unique Husky Hockey reunion beginning Wednesday, April 23 as Brendan Dowler '22 and Nolan McElahaney '24 will be on the ice against each other in the 2025 Southern Professional Hockey League's (SPHL) President's Cup Championship. The SPHL is a minor professional hockey league founded in 2004, and features 10 teams. Celebrating 20 years, the SPHL broke its regular-season attendance record (1,149,410), and averaged more than 4000 fans per game.

The three-game series beginning on Wednesday will feature Dowler's Knoxville Ice Bears and McElhaney's Evansville Thunderbolts.  Fortunately, both Dowler and McElhaney are defensemen so their reunion will be as amicable as championship hockey can be.

The sixth-seeded Ice Bears, who downed third-seeded Roanoke and fourth-seeded Birmingham to advance to the finals, are seeking their fifth SPHL championship. Evansville, which entered the playoffs as the seventh seed and upset second-seeded Huntsville and the regular season champion Peoria Rivermen, is making its first appearance in the President's Cup Finals.
 
Regulars in both the Ice Bears and Thunderbolts lineups, Dowler, now in his third professional season, has played in 54 games this season with four goals and eight assists (12 points).  In Knoxville's six playoff games to advance to the championship, Dowler has contributed three assists. 
 
A first-year pro, McElhaney has played in 50 games for the Thunderbolts scoring two goals and dishing out 16 assists (18 points). In five playoff game appearances, McElhaney has a pair of assists.
 
Dowler was a four-year member of the Huskies' ice hockey program, playing in 68 career games with 12 goals and seven assists (19 points).  A four-time William B. Wise Scholar-Athlete and three-time New England Hockey Conference All-Academic selection, Dowler earned his degree in Sport Management.  After transferring to Southern Maine after Division I stops at University of New Hampshire and Long Island University, McElhaney played two years for the Huskies scoring 13 goals and 12 assists (25 points) in 40 career games.  He earned his degree in Sport Management.