Springfield, Illinois – With our annual Alumni Game in the rear view mirror, we turn our attention to our alumni who are still playing in college or professional. From NCAA Division 3 to the ECHL, here’s a rundown of what they’ve been up to:
We start out this week by giving congratulations and kudos to one of our forward alumni who has been outstanding this season. Kelly Klima started off the 2018-19 season in the Arizona Coyotes training camp before being sent down to the Tucson Roadrunners where he wouldn’t see any action. After being sent down to the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals, Klima tallied 14 goals and 14 assists in 27 games. On Monday Kelly was recalled by Tucson and will look to play in his first AHL contest this weekend when the Roadrunners face-off against the Colorado Eagles.
Dryden McKay continues to make it impossible for us to not mention him. The Minnesota State freshman stopped 44 of 46 shots faced in a weekend split against Alaska-Fairbanks, he finished the series with a 1.02 GAA and a .957 save percentage. The win on Friday gave the Mavericks’ 62 points on the season and helped them clinch the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champions, along with the #1 seed for the post-season tournament. McKay leads all freshman goaltenders in wins (18), GAA (1.81), and shutouts (3).
Sticking in the WCHA, we turn our attention to Ferris State where both Coale Norris and Ethan Stewart currently play. Norris, a sophomore forward, tallied three assists in their 5-2 victory over Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday evening. Norris now has 12 assists on the season, and 19 points overall.
Heading east we next take a look at Stefanos Lekkas and the University of Vermont Catamounts. In a two game set against Boston University over the weekend, Lekkas stopped 67 of 70 shots that he faced. On Friday he stopped 43 in a 1-0 overtime loss, while on Saturday he stopped 24 in a 2-1 loss. Despite the lack of wins he now has a 2.20 GAA and a .932 save percentage in 32 games played.
Mercyhurst and Air Force battled in a two game series that saw two Jr. Blues alumni make impacts on the score sheet. In Friday’s 3-3 tie, Joshua Lammon had a goal and an assist for Mercyhurst while Air Force’s Brady Tomlak also had a goal and an assist. In Saturday’s contest Tomlak scored another goal, while Lammon had two assists. Lammon, who is Mercyhurst’s captain, has 11 goals and 16 assists in his senior season thus far. Tomlak, a junior, has 7 goals and 8 assists on an Air Force team that also has Trevor Stone.
In another matchup between two alumni, Michigan and Ohio State split a weekend set that saw Tommy Nappier and Jack Summers play pivotal roles for their team. Summers, a freshman at Michigan, had an assist in the Wolverines 4-2 victory over the Buckeyes on Friday, he now has 9 assists this season. Nappier, a sophomore at Ohio State, stopped 27 of 30 shots in a 3-3 tie on Saturday. The St. Louis, MO native has a minuscule 1.82 GAA and a .937 in 17 games played this season.
We could spend all day discussing the spectacular play of our alumni, but here’s a quick breakdown of what some of our other alumni have been up to.
- Ross Olsson, F: 10 goals, 21 assists in 21 games (Endicott College, D3)
- Zachary Tyson, F: 6 goals, 19 assists in 27 games (Hobart College, D3)
- Thomas Kolaz, F: 14 goals, 18 assists in 37 games (Univ. of Illinois, ACHA)
- Michael Davies, F: 14 goals, 10 assists in 35 games (EHC Linz, EBEL)
- Blake Robertson, D: 11 goals, 4 assists in 25 games (Trine Univ., D3)
- Eric McKenna, F: 6 goals, 5 assists in 10 games (Kowloon Warriors, CIHL HK)
- Tim Santopaolo, F: 5 goals, 5 assists in 9 games (Watertown Wolves, FHL)
- Ricards Bernhards, F: 10 goals, 11 assists in 32 games (Zemgale, Latvia)
