Springfield, Illinois – The Springfield Jr. Blues alumni have been lighting the lamp and shutting the opposition out all season long, and this past weekend was no different! With over 175 alumni playing all over the world – from juniors all the way to the KHL – we have a lot to get to this morning: here is today’s Alumni Report!
We begin today in Big Rapids, MI where Senior forward Ethan Stewart earned CCHA Forward of the Week after registering three points in the Bulldogs weekend split with St. Thomas. Stewart, a native of Rockford, IL, had an assist in Friday’s 3-1 victory and had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 4-3 defeat. In 22 games this season he has registered 5 goals and 5 assists and overall in his collegiate career he has played in 68 games and has scored 11 goals and 15 assists. Stewart was named Captain before the season and is currently teammates with fellow alum Bradley Marek. He played here in Springfield during the 2017-18 season (Pictured Above) and as the Assistant Captain he appeared in all 60 games and tallied 17 goals and 30 assists.
Our next spotlight takes us just up I-55 to Peoria, IL where forward Nate Chasteen picked up his first professional goal while playing for the SPHL’s Peoria Rivermen. Chasteen, a native of Peoria, deflected a shot from the high slot in the Rivermen’s 8-2 victory on Friday to continue building upon a fairytale season for the hometown kid. Chasteen now has 1 goal and 2 assists in 12 games for the Rivermen as he has been in and out of the lineup throughout the season. He played for the Jr. Blues during the 2012-13 season where he tallied 11 goals and 15 assists in 43 games. Prior to and after his time in Springfield Nate played for the Peoria Mustangs where he totaled 55 goals and 82 assists in 96 games. Congratulations, Chas!
From the SPHL to the AHL, our next spotlight takes us to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA where netminder Tommy Nappier recorded two victories for the Penguins over the weekend. Nappier, a native of St. Louis, MO, stopped 20 of 22 on Saturday in their 5-2 victory over Lehigh Valley and then followed that up with a 23 save performance in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Hershey. He has seen time in both the AHL and the ECHL this season but his numbers in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton sit at: 3-4-3, 3.22, .888. At one point he was part of the first all Jr. Blues alumni goaltending duo when he and Stefanos Lekkas were both in Wheeling of the ECHL. Nappier played for the Jr. Blues during the 2015-16 season where he appeared in 39 games and provided a record of 18-17-0-1 with a 2.45 GAA, .919 SV% and 3 shutouts.
Our final spotlight this week takes us to Springfield, MA where Senior forward Brian Rigali had an outstanding weekend for AIC. Rigali, a native of Green Oaks, IL, recorded 2 goals in Friday’s 5-4 victory over Mercyhurst and then added a goal and an assist on Saturday for the Yellow Jackets in their 6-3 win that extended their winning streak to 8 games. He has appeared in 19 games for AIC this season and has 9 goals and 9 assists to push his NCAA totals to 25 goals and 27 assists in 140 games split between UCONN and AIC. Rigali played here in Springfield during the 2014-15 season and recorded 8 goals and 14 assists in 58 games.
While these alumni had phenomenal weeks on the ice, they are far from the only players who excelled for their teams! Here are the rest of our alumni who showed up and showed out!
Stefanos Lekkas 2-1-0 Wheeling Nailers ECHL
Ross Olsson 1 G Worcester Railers ECHL
Brady Tomlak 1 G Toledo Walleye ECHL
Matheson Iacopelli 1 G, 1 A Kalamazoo Wings ECHL
Christian Simeone 1 A Utah Grizzlies ECHL
Tyler Parks 2-1-0 Atlanta Gladiators ECHL
Kelly Klima 1 A HK Hradec Kralove Czechia
Martin Liljekvist 1 G Kalix HockeyEttan
Radim Matus 2 G Orli Znojmo ICEHL
Les Lancaster 2 A Ilves Liiga
Sandro Aeschlimann 1-1-0 HC Davos NL
Sam Craggs 2 G Bowling Green NCAA
Dryden McKay 1-1-0 Minnesota State-Mankato NCAA
Bradley Marek 1 A Ferris State NCAA
Coale Norris 2 G Bowling Green NCAA
Mike Robinson 2-0-0 New Hampshire NCAA
Caden Villegas 1 A Union College NCAA
Todd Goehring 1 G Sacred Heart NCAA
Will Gavin 4 A Air Force NCAA
Jordan Muzzillo 1 A Alaska-Fairbanks NCAA
Reed Stark 1 G UW-Superior NCAA DIII
Sam Mudd 1 A St. Olaf NCAA DIII
Sam Sterne 1 A UW-Superior NCAA DIII
Kyler Yeo 1 A Augsburg NCAA DIII
Jack Nickels 1 A MSOE NCAA DIII
Max Brainin 1 G St. Norbert NCAA DIII
Ben Schmidling 1 A St. Norbert NCAA DIII
Brendan Aird 1 G St. Norbert NCAA DIII
Jeffrey Skinner 2 A UMass-Boston NCAA DIII
Callahan Johnson 1 G Skidmore NCAA DIII
Camron Cervone 1 A SUNY-Geneseo NCAA DIII
Zach Tyson 1 G, 1 A Hobart NCAA DIII
Jack Williams 1-1-0 Waterloo Black Hawks USHL
