Springfield, Illinois – The Springfield Jr. Blues, proud members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), are pleased to announce that forward Zachary Simon has signed a tender for the 2020-21 season!
Simon, a native of Orono, MN, just wrapped up his first season of junior hockey with the North Iowa Bulls of the NA3HL. The 5’9” 155 lbs. forward appeared in 19 games for the Bulls this year, tallying 7 goals and 9 assists. Simon also played for his high school, Orono HS, in Minnesota where he appeared in 25 games and registered 29 goals and 37 assists.
In three years on the Orono Spartans’ varsity roster, Simon appeared in a total of 75 games with 60 goals and 70 assists to his credit. He was named a Captain for the last two years, was part of their 2018 Minnesota state title, and finished this season ranked 12th in scoring among all Minnesota High School players.
“He’s a guy that you wish you had the entire year,” said North Iowa head coach Todd Sanden. “Simon has a compete level that far surpasses his size and stature. He comes out of the corners with pucks, against guys much bigger, much older and much stronger than him. He refuses to lose wall battles, and has a pretty good gift around the net as well.”
“We are excited to see what Zachary is able to bring to our group of returners next season,” said Jr. Blues Head Coach Tyler Rennette. “Once we get back to hockey in the following weeks, we look forward to seeing him at camp along with our other tenders and draft picks.
Simon is the fifth player to sign a tender with the Jr. Blues this season. He joins Daniel Rozsival (Chicago Mission U18), Brian Craven (South Shore Kings 18U), Jacob Zwirecki (Buffalo Jr. Sabres 18U), and Riley McAlese (Sioux Falls Stampede 18U).
A tender is a contract, of sorts, a player signs announcing his intentions to play for that particular NAHL team and that NAHL team only. Once a player signs a tender with an NAHL team, his playing rights belong to that team within the NAHL and he may not be recruited by any other NAHL team. Each team is granted ten (10) tenders, which include one tender exclusively used on players from the NA3HL – plus or minus any trades – which became active on Nov. 1. Tendered players are not eligible for the NAHL draft, which will be held on June 2, 2020.
