Weekend Preview: Motor City Rockers vs Port Huron Prowlers

The Motor City Rockers started off their comeback campaign last weekend in Thief River Falls, Minnesota against the Minnesota Northern Lights. The first game for the revived Rockers saw Motor City facing a 4-1 deficit in the middle period. Powered by a pair of TJ Sneath goals and a Drew Welsch snipe, the Rockers forced overtime and eventually won the game on a Jhuwon Davis goal, 3:01 into the extra frame. Motor City returned to Wyandotte with three of a possible four points after a shootout loss in the series finale.

Matteo Ybarra had a weekend for the books, recording assists on six of the eight Rockers goals. His six assists are good for first in the FPHL, tied with two different members of the Monroe Moccasins.

Both TJ Sneath and Jhuwon Davis started off the season on a tear. Both forwards come back to Wyandotte with three goals in their back pocket. Sneath tallied all three in the 5-4 overtime win in last Friday's matchup, while Davis tallied the game winning goal Friday, before netting two in Saturdays matchup.

Any long time Rocker fans understand the intensity of the battle of I-94. Now separated by just 65 miles, the Port Huron Prowlers and the Motor City Rockers rivalry has been one marked with intensity. Port Huron holds a 25-18-5 edge in the all time series. However, nearly half of those wins came during the 2024-25 season, where the Prowlers beat Motor City 12 times in 14 tries. That was the only season the Prowlers have won the battle of I-94, the Rockers claimed the crown in both the 2022-23 season, and the 2023-24 season.

The Port Huron Prowlers struggled in their opening weekend, falling to the Binghamton Black Bears twice in New York. The Black Bears dominated night one, topping Port Huron 6-1. The encore was a tighter knit affair, as Binghamton was able to squeak out a shootout win. Only five Prowlers recorded points on the opening weekend, with none of the five grabbing multiple points.

While the Rockers and Prowlers history goes back just a handful of years, the first professional sports matchup between Wyandotte and Port Huron goes back to the 1910's. Between 1912 and 1913, both Wyandotte and Port Huron played in a class D minor league baseball league called the "Border League". The Wyandotte Alkalis and the Port Huron Independents battled on the baseball diamond over a century before they matched up on the ice. The Alkalis won the 1912 crown, while Port Huron finished last in the league with just seven wins.