Janesville, Wisconsin – The Springfield Jr. Blues were unable to stop the surging Janesville Jets this past weekend, losing both contests convincingly. With the losses the Jr. Blues remain in 6th place in the Midwest Division with a 15-33-2-2 record and 34 points.
On Friday night the Jets struck early and often, chasing netminder Ryan Wilson from the game early in the 2nd period. The Jr. Blues, who were held to 1 shot in the 2nd period, never really challenged the home team as Wilson stopped 17 of 21 while Alex Proctor stopped 10 of 12 in relief. The Jets won 6-0.
Saturday’s game proved to be more of the same despite the Jr. Blues opening the scoring. Ethan Heidepriem notched his second goal since joining the team midway through the opening period and heading into the 1st intermission, the game was tied 1-1. After that, however, the Jets would score five unanswered goals between the 2nd period and 3rd period.
Jeremy Gabriele found the back of the net late in the 3rd on the power play, but that would be the extent of the offense for the evening. The Jets won 6-2. Wilson, who got the start in net, stopped 24 of 30 shots in a losing effort. Caden Villegas, Noah Marino, Mason McCormick, and Heidepriem each had an assist in the game.
Jr. Blues Notes:
A Rough Stretch – The Jr. Blues are currently in their toughest stretch of the season, having lost eight of their last ten. Three of those games, dating back to our series against Shreveport, have been shutouts, while having allowed five or more goals in four of those games. After defeating Topeka in late January, the Jr. Blues were only four points out of a playoff spot. Now, we sit 15 points behind fourth place Minnesota.
Heavy Workload – Ryan Wilson has appeared in 35 games this season for the Jr. Blues, and has started seven of the last 10 games. On the year he has the 6th most amount of minutes played (1985) as well as saves made (954), and his two shutouts have him tied for 14th most in the league. In comparison, Jack Williams last season had 39 appearances and played 2211 minutes, made 918 saves, and had 4 shutouts.
Longevity – Giovanni Carabelli is now in the top 10 for the Jr. Blues in all-time games played with 142, one behind former teammate Max Osborne. He trails overall leader Trevor Stone, who played in 197 games, while the rest of the top 10 include memorable figures such as Frank Nardella, Andrew Berecz, Hank Carisio, Matt Long, Matt Globke, and Jon Gaffney. Behind Carabelli, Jayden Jensen has appeared in 107 games while Caden Villegas broke the 100 game plateau against Fairbanks on February 23rd.
Up Next:
The Jr. Blues will head to Minnesota for the final match-up against the Magicians this weekend, with Friday’s game starting at 7:15 pm and Saturday’s game starting at 7:05 pm. Both games can be seen on HockeyTV, make sure to choose the “Road Audio” feed to hear our road broadcast team call all of the action!
