Ford, Paulin garner All-Star recognition

Winston-Salem, NC -- A pair of Thunderbirds found their way onto the FPHL's award list for 2021-2022. Goaltender Chris Paulin made the FPHL's 2nd All-Star Squad, while Ford was named to the league's Young Stars Squad. 

In his 3rd season with the Carolina Thunderbirds, Paulin cemented himself as a workhorse in net. With a career-high 20 wins, Paulin paced the league. He also led the league in minutes, with 2162:23 logged as of the All-Star team's announcement. The Lockport, New York native gathered momentum in the season's final weeks, logging a save percentage above .900 in his last nine starts. On April 2nd, Paulin turned aside all 36 shots in a 5-0 win over Danbury, becoming just the seventh goaltender to record a shutout in 2021-2022.

Gus Ford joined the Thunderbirds after a brief stint with the SPHL's Macon Mayhem. In just his second Thunderbirds game, Ford exploded with two goals and an assist in a 4-3 shootout victory over Columbus. Since then, Ford has smashed Thunderbirds scoring records, and currently leads his team in scoring with three games remaining. 

On March 12th, Ford set the Franchise Record for goals in a single season when he scored his 30th against Delaware. He would then become the first modern Thunderbird to hit the 40 goal plateau less than a month later. From December 10th to January 28th, Ford embarked on a historic 18-game point streak. It began with a hat-trick in Port Huron, and contained 20 goals, 20 assists, and 40 points. With 81 points as of April 12th, Ford needs just two more points to tie Carolina's single-season points record of 83, set by Josh Pietrantonio in 2019.

The full list of FPHL awards can be found at https://www.federalhockey.com/news/fphl-announces-year-end-awards3