Springfield, Illinois – We hope that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving break, Jr. Blues fans! Now that we are back to hockey and preparing for our matchup this weekend, it’s time to take a look at how some of your favorite former Jr. Blues players did this past week in today’s Alumni Report!
We begin today’s Alumni Report in Durham, New Hampshire as we first spotlight Senior goaltender Mike Robinson who earned his second consecutive HockeyEast Goaltender of the Week honors after going 2-0 this past weekend. Robinson, a native of New Hampshire, posted a 27-save shutout against No. 16 Harvard on Friday in the Wildcats 1-0 victory and then stopped 20 of 22 against Holy Cross in a 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday. Robinson is in his 5th season at UNH, taking advantage of the new NCAA policy allowing Seniors another year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his time at UNH he is 30-43-14 in 94 games played and has a stat line of 2.76 GAA, .900 SV%, and 8 shutouts. Robinson played for the Jr. Blues during the 2016-17 season (pictured above) and appeared in 25 games, posting an 11-10-0-2 record with a 2.99 GAA and .916 SV%. Robinson was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft in Round 3 Pick #86 overall.
Our next spotlight is on forward Justin Brandt, a Senior forward at Tufts University who had a breakout weekend for the Jumbos over the holiday weekend. The Ann Arbor, MI native put up four points in a barnburner against Babson last Tuesday, two goals on special teams (PP and SH) and two assists late in the 3rd, as the Jumbos came up short 7-5. On Friday Brandt scored two more goals in a 6-2 defeat at the hands of Stevenson adding another power play and short handed tally in the contest. Through 5 games so far this season Brandt has 4 goals and 2 assists, and overall in four seasons at Tufts he has appeared in 47 games and has recorded 12 goals and 21 assists. Brandt played here in Springfield during the 2015-16 season where he appeared in 6 games before playing in Brookings and then Austin. He is currently teammates at Tufts with fellow alumni goaltender Josh Sarlo.
We move onto professional hockey for our next spotlight as we focus in on Worcester, Massachusetts where veteran forward Ross Olsson tallied his first professional hat trick for the Railers this past week. Olsson, a native of Billerica, MA, had an assist in the Railers 4-2 loss to Maine last Wednesday before exploding for three goals and an assist in their 8-1 victory over Adirondack on Friday. Those 8 goals set a franchise record for the Railers and Olsson notched a career first since turning professional in 2018-19. Olsson has now appeared in 8 games this season and has 5 goals and 3 assists with 32 PIMs. Overall he has played in 79 games between the Railers, Indy Fuel, and Kansas City Mavericks and has scored 20 goals and 17 assists to go along with 211 PIMs. Olsson played for the Jr. Blues during the 2013-14 season where he recorded 1 goal and 2 assists and 61 PIMs in 14 games. He went on to play at Endicott College where he tallied 55 goals and 79 assists in 94 NCAA DIII games, finishing his career first all-time in points, assists, and power play goals in Endicott history.
Our final spotlight of the week involves another professional hockey first – this time in West Valley City, UT where rookie forward Christian Simeone scored his first professional hockey goal in the Utah Grizzlies 3-1 victory over Tulsa this past Saturday. Simeone, a native of Milton, MA, added an assist in the game as well to pick up his first professional assist and now has 2 points in 7 games played this season. He joined Utah after playing the past three seasons at Merrimack College where he appeared in 28 games with 1 goal and 4 assists. Simeone played for the Jr. Blues during the 2016-17 season and appeared in 35 games, scoring 4 goals and 10 assists.
While these four young men may have stolen the spotlight, they aren’t the only alumni who had success this past weekend!
Tyler Parks 1-1-1 Atlanta Gladiators ECHL
Stefanos Lekkas 1-0-0 Wheeling Nailers ECHL
Matheson Iacopelli 1 G Kalamazoo Wings ECHL
Brennan Blaszczak 1 G Pensacola Ice Flyers SPHL
Kelly Klima 1 A HK Hradec Kralove Czech
Radim Matus 3 A Orli Znojmo ICEHL
Sandro Aeschlimann 1-0-0 HC Davos NL
Fabio Hollenstein 1 A HC Thurgau SL
Ethan Stewart 1 A Ferris State NCAA
Dryden McKay 1-0-0, 1 SO Minnesota State-Mankato NCAA
Sam Craggs 1 G Bowling Green NCAA
Ryan Leibold 3 A Holy Cross NCAA
Todd Goehring 1 G Sacred Heart NCAA
Brian Rigali 1 G, 1 A AIC NCAA
Daniel DiGrande 1 G, 1 A Canisius NCAA
Nikita Kozyrev 1 G, 1 A Buffalo State NCAA DIII
Josh Norman 1 A Lake Forest NCAA DIII
Jeffrey Skinner 1 A UMass-Boston NCAA DIII
Ethan Heidepriem* 1 G, 1 A Skidmore NCAA DIII (1st NCAA Goal)
Cade Groton 1 A Hamilton NCAA DIII
Max Osborne 1 G Saint Johns NCAA DIII
Mason McCormick 1 A Waterloo Black Hawks USHL
