Four Ice Miners Make North Division Top Prospects Team
January 27, 2015 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Keystone Ice Miners News Release
CONNELLSVILLE, PA - The North American Hockey League announced its rosters for the 2015 Top Prospects Tournament on Tuesday, and the Ice Miners are well represented. Forwards (and line-mates) Matt Jones and Taylor Fernandez, along with defenseman Alex Archibald and goaltender Alex Blankenburg will all travel to the Ann Arbor Ice Cube in Ann Arbor, Michigan on February 23rd and 24th to show their skills in front of scouts. In addition, head coach Michael Gershon has been named an assistant coach for the North Division team.
"All of the guys have done really well this year," Gershon said about the four players selected. "Taylor is leading our team in points and Matt's done a really good job. He and Taylor feed off each other and that line [along with Jon Hall] has really taken off for us." Fernandez (6 goals, 19 assists) and Jones (10 goals, 11 assists) are one and two respectively on the Ice Miners points leaderboard.
While Fernandez and Jones will be first-timers at the tournament, Archibald and Blankenburg are each making their second trip. "Arch has been 'steady-eddie' for us for two years now and he and Alex [Blankenburg] have done really well in three years with the team," Gershon said. "This will be their last opportunity to show the colleges - which are going to be there in numbers - that they can play for their school." Archibald is second on the team in defenseman scoring (3 goals, 9 assists), while Blankenburg has 11 wins to go along with a 2.52 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. He is also tied for the NAHL lead in shootout wins with 4.
Gershon is making his 2nd consecutive trip to the North Division bench, after serving as head coach in last year's tournament. "Being on the bench 2 of my 3 years is a pretty amazing accomplishment but obviously you rely on the players to go out there and do it," he said. "I think it definitely speaks volumes about the organization and what we've done - when guys leave, the next guys come in and we don't miss a beat and we're still one of the top teams in the North and in the league."
The tournament will feature one team from each NAHL division (North, South, Midwest, Central), along with an "NAHL Selects" team comprised of under-18 players, as well as appearances from the U.S. National U-17 and U-18 development programs.
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North American Hockey League Stories from January 27, 2015
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