Springfield, Illinois – The Springfield Jr. Blues, proud members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), are pleased to announce that forward Ben Schmidling has been named the Bauer Hockey Midwest Division Star of the Week! This is Ben’s second time earning Star of the Week honors in addition to being the 2nd Star of the Week twice and an Honorable Mention three times.
Schmidling, 21, helped the Jr. Blues to a weekend home sweep of the Chippewa Steel this past weekend. The 5’10/172 lbs. native of St. Joseph, Missouri, racked up six more points in the two wins and extended his point steak to eight straight games. On Friday, Schmidling had two goals, including the game-winner, in a 7-3 win. On Saturday, Schmidling had a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win. For the season, Schmidling is second in team scoring with 65 points in 58 games played. “Ben has been on quite a roll for us the past month. He has been a leader offensively for us and we will need him to continue that heading into the playoffs,” said Jr. Blues head coach Tyler Rennette
In addition to Ben Schmidling being named Star of the Week, Brandon Puricelli was listed as an Honorable Mention. Puricelli had six points on the weekend (3 G, 3 A) and now has points in 12 straight games. Overall on the season the Ellisville, Missouri native leads the Jr. Blues in points with 78 points (30 G, 48 A). This is Puricelli’s sixth Honorable Mention this season in addition to being the Star of the Week once (Week of March 4th) and 2nd Star of the Week twice.
