Jr. Blues Down Hitmen
December 4, 2010 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Springfield Jr. Blues News Release
A little bit of rust from the nearly three week layoff was apparent during the first period of the game, but it went away in a hurry as the game wore on. From the get go, the Blues outshot the Hitmen by a wide margin, but Gervais (Chicago) took a break away puck at Andy Martin and put the biscuit in the net on their first shot to take a 0 - 1 lead into the locker room at the first break. I think that just fired up the good guys because they came out on fire for the second period.
I got a little excited when we scored and forgot to write down time of goal...for the rest of the game. The Jr. Blues tied the game, then scored again during the second to take the lead, but Chicago came back to tie the game at two apiece in the second.
The Jr. Blues looked terrific from the starting faceoff in the third period and continued to look better and better as time ticked down on the score board. If you watched the last eight minutes of the game you saw the good guys play their absolute best hockey of the year. It was nothing short of awesome. I've never seen this team control the puck like they did during the last period. The last eight minutes were played in our offensive zone. During that stretch we went from a narrow 3 - 2 lead to score two more goals and put the game out of reach.
The Hitmen picked up Brenan Knoblock, the backup goalie in Traverse City, and he did an excellent job throughout two and one half periods. The Blues finally got to him in the third, but this is a goalie to keep your eyes on. He is big and mobile and Chicago has a gem in the rough.
What can I say about Andy Martin in goal, but after getting faked out on their first shot of the game he settled down and did a super job between the pipes for the rest of the game. With the game on the line Marty played some of his best defense of the year and made some spectacular saves to protect a one goal lead. He stopped 17 of 19 shots and showed why he is the number one goalie for the Jr. Blues.
We also watched Mike Williams, just joining the team this week from the USHL. He was originally a Blues tender this year before getting a chance to play at a higher level. For being with the team less than a week he fits right in to the scheme of things and looked like he has been with us all season. He's going to be fun to watch, because he is big, quick and tough. He can control the puck and do all the fundamentals with excellent speed. What a great addition to the team.
The rest of the guys just keep getting better and better, and I wish I could write a little bit about each one. As a team, I truly believe this is the best Jr. Blues team I've watched in the four years Barb and I have been affiliated with the Jr. Blues organization. Kudos to the coaches and scouts for bringing this talent to Springfield, they may be young guys, but they sure know what they are doing.
All in all, the talent is here in a team with great heart, and they could just go all the way this year. Wouldn't that be fun to watch. I'd probably go absolute bonkers on the broadcast. Of course I've never done that before. (Okay, you all can stop laughing any time now...)
Our good guys outshot Chicago 40 ¬" 19 in this game, which just proves that if you keep putting shots on goal good things will happen.
The same two teams play Saturday night at 8:00pm at the West Meadows Arena in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and I'll be with you on the FASTHockey network. Since my laptop crashed right before we left the house to come to Chicago I can't promise when I'll get another article to you, but I will try and get it out Sunday morning. When computers work they are wonderful tools that help make my job so much easier. When they don't work...well...the only nice phrase I can think to use is "Horse Feathers!"
Final score of the first game of this two game series: Jr. Blues 5, Chicago Hitmen 2. The good guys are 14 ¬" 13 ¬" 2. Let's go Blues!
North American Hockey League Stories from December 4, 2010
- Motor City Doubles up TC - Traverse City North Stars
- IceRays Get the Horns from the Bulls, 5-2 - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Jr. Blues Down Hitmen - Springfield Jr. Blues
- 'Runners Dominate Bandits in 5-2 Win - Topeka Pilots
- Wild Wins in OT - Wenatchee Wild
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
