Puricelli Earns Midwest Division Star of the Week

Mar 5, 2019

Springfield, Illinois – The Springfield Jr. Blues, proud members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), are pleased to announce that forward Brandon Puricelli has been named the Bauer Hockey Midwest Division Star of the Week, and that forward Nikita Kozyrev was named an Honorable Mention!

Puricelli, 21, played a key role in the Jr. Blues weekend split with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. After tallying a goal in Friday night’s 7-2 loss, Puricelli scored two goals and added an assist in Saturday’s 4-1 victory. The Ellsville, MO native now has 24 goals and 35 assists for 59 points on the season which ties him with Brad Belisle of the Aberdeen Wings for 6th best in the NAHL. He now has 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) in his last four games. Puricelli was also a participant in this year’s Top Prospects Tournament where he had two assists in two games for the Midwest Division roster.

Kozyrev, 20, has been a lightning rod of productivity since the Christmas break. He is currently on a four game point streak as well, tallying 9 points (6 goals, 3 assists) in that span. On the season Kozyrev has 14 goals and 19 assists in 41 games played which is on pace to tie or break his personal best 47 points set last year. The Tallinn, Estonia native now has 100 points in the NAHL spread out over three seasons, two with Springfield.

Congratulations to Brandon and Nikita for their excellent play this past weekend!