Jr. Blues Alumni Report – Nov. 7th, 2019

Nov 7, 2019

Springfield, Illinois – As each week passes more and more collegiate and professional teams are beginning their seasons, and with the Springfield Jr. Blues having moved over 350 players onto NCAA hockey and more than 140 players onto professional hockey, we have quite a few alumni to keep track of.

Here’s this week’s Alumni Report!

We begin this week in the NCAA by spotlighting Michael Corson who was named the NCHC Goaltender of the Week. Corson picked up his first NCAA win in his first career start for the University of Denver over the University of Niagara. The Darien, IL native stopped all 16 shots sent his way en route to his first career shutout and first career weekly award. Corson made one appearance last season in relief in which he stopped all 10 shots that he faced. In two NCAA appearances he now has a 1-0-0 record with a perfect goals against and save percentage. Corson is teammates at Denver with fellow alumni Devin Cooley and Erich Fear.

Our next spotlight takes us out to Union College in New York as sophomore defenseman Fletcher Fineman scored both his first NCAA goal and point for the Dutchmen this past weekend. In a 3-0 victory over Canisius College on Friday, Fineman scored the third goal of the game in the 3rd period. A native of Lake Worth, FL, Fineman was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team in 2018. 

Keeping the train rolling with firsts we move to the ECHL where rookie defenseman Alex Jaeckle recorded two points over the weekend including his first professional goal. The St. Clair Shores, MI native is currently playing for the Norfolk Admirals after playing four years at Canisius College. Jaeckle is currently one of seven alumni who have played a game in the ECHL this season after playing for Norfolk at the end of last season as well. 

It’s time to take a look back at the NCAA as we recognize a pair of familiar goalies to our Alumni Report. Minnesota State-Mankato sophomore goaltender Dryden McKay has been named the WCHA Goaltender of the Month for October. McKay helped lead the Mavericks to a 5-0-1 mark in October and finished the month leading the WCHA in wins, save percentage (.940), goals against average (1.36), winning percentage (.900), and shutouts (one). His GAA is ranked 4th nationally, while his SV% is tied for 7th best. His 5 wins currently put him in a tie for 3rd with several others. McKay has already earned WCHA Goaltender of the Week honors after a weekend sweep of Arizona State to start the season. The award is McKay’s third career WCHA Goaltender of the Month Award and he is only one month into his sophomore campaign. 

Stop us when this sounds familiar: Tommy Nappier helped lead the Buckeyes to a weekend sweep. Well, the junior from St. Louis, MO did just that again for Ohio State Univeristy as he stopped 20/22 on Friday before stopping 25/26 on Saturday. The B1G hockey conference announced that Nappier earned 2nd Star of the Week honors for his weekend play which saw him raise his record to 6-1-1 and a stat line consistent of a 1.62 GAA and .940 SV%. The weekly honor is Nappier’s sixth career weekly award and his first since being the 1st Star of the Week on October 15th. 

NCAA Division III hockey kicked off this past weekend with several Jr. Blues alumni making immediate impacts. Kevin Shand and Jack Nickels helped the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) start the season off with a bang by  helping the Raiders to a weekend sweep. Shand recorded 2 goals and an assist while Nickels had 2 assists. 

Aurora University sophomore Riley Doyon scored twice over the weekend for the Spartans while his teammate and fellow alumni Dylan Rauh also scored in a sweep over St. Olaf. Over at St. Norbert College, Brendan Aird and Ben Schmidling both recorded their first collegiate points this past weekend in a series split with UW-Superior. Aird scored his first goal on an assist by Schmidling in a losing effort on Saturday night. 

Alumni Highlights: