The Springfield Jr. Blues go in to tonight’s game against the Bandits in third place in the Midwest Division of the North American Hockey League. Coulee Region goes against the Alexandria Blizzard to try and regain third from the Good Guys. It should be another great night in the NAHL!
The Blues are fighting the injury bug again as Mike Williams headed home early for Christmas break. He reinjured his knuckle against Chicago last week, and he’s been ordered to rest and rehabilitate it. Ryan Doner remains at his home in Washington State recovering from two cracked bones in his foot. Hopefully he will be recovered enough after the holiday break to go back to Topeka, the sight of the breaks, to have an impact on the team. His two shifts with the Blues were very promising to be sure and we look forward to getting him back on the ice. Guan Wang also went home to check the damage to his shoulder, also injured in Topeka. We haven’t heard any more from him after his MRI. Hopefully some rest will get him back after the holiday break. The Blues will definitely be thin at the “D” position this weekend.
I came out to the rink early this evening. There’s a new writer covering the Jr. Blues. I wanted to meet the young man, who is a student at Lincoln Land Community College and wants to become a professional sports writer or broadcaster. If I can help him reach that dream, I would look forward to working with him. Like all of us are when first starting out, he’s a little rough around the edges. I know when I was learning to write, my submissions had more red ink on them than the black ink I wrote them in when they were returned to me. He has done an excellent job putting a Blog together on the internet. Hmmm, maybe as technologically challenged as I am we could learn from each other. You really can teach and old dog new tricks, it just takes longer for the old dog to learn. (It’s okay, I’ve been called much worse, but in dog years I’m not quite ten years old…)
Nick Townes
With all the injuries, Coach Dibble has brought up a new forward. His name is Nick Townes, and he will play tonight. Rumor has it that he is a scorer that is just plain tearing up his league. Good luck and bring it on Nick!
Period one was scoreless until the Bandits put the puck in the net at 14:04. Birmingham was credited with the goal on assists by Hughes and Dichiara. Then, just a minute and twenty seconds later, the Bandits scored again on a goal by Joe Kalisz. He was assisted by Stouffer and Petersen, but St. Louis wasn’t finished yet. Former Jr. Blue Taylor Wolfe put the puck in the net for the third Bandit goal of the period to make the score three – zip. Stouffer got his second assist along with Johnson.
Period two had a break in the action due to a break in the glass at the 1:57 time on the clock. With glass on the ice both teams went to their respective locker rooms and after everything was cleaned up the Zamboni dressed the ice and the teams returned. They finished the second period’s remaining time and then went directly into the third period. Before the break the action continued up and down the ice and began to heat up between the two teams. At the 8:43 mark Chris Sitler took a sweet pass from Kyle Cook and scored to make the score 4 – 1. When the teams returned, the Bandits continued their power play.
The third period was not a pretty sight as the Bandits scored twice more to make the final score 6 – 1. The glaring difference in the game tonight was the Bandits ability to move the puck on good passes. The Blues had difficulty moving the puck all night long. Tomorrow night is another night with the game moving to the Bandits home ice in Chesterfield, Missouri. Game time is 6:00pm. The Blues have played better in Chesterfield than they have at home against the Bandits, so let’s expect a better showing tomorrow.
Mike Hickey
