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NAHL Springfield Jr. Blues

Now that's more like it!

February 5, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Springfield Jr. Blues News Release


Back home again in the friendly confines of the Franklin P. Nelson Center, the home of the Springfield Jr. Blues. After only one home game in January we are glad to be back! The ugly seven game losing streak that ran from just after the Christmas break until last week in Topeka is behind us. Acting Head Coach Joe Dibble has promoted a physical style game and the players have taken to it like a duck takes to water. As a result, the good guys beat Topeka at their own game and came home with a split against the South Division leaders. And the guys survived the crazy fans, one of which got sprayed with a water bottle for trying to grab T. J. Poganski while he sat in the penalty box. Too bad T.J. was the one ejected from the Landon Arena. A very small, small percentage of Topeka fans crossed the line out there which is really sad. Even more disturbing is the fact of the example the Mom was teaching her two young daughters. Both parents were totally out of control. Again, I reiterate that it was only three or four who should be banished.

Tonight is a completely different scenario as the Blues have 18 games left to erase a nine point deficit and earn a playoff spot. It's a tough row to hoe, and we'll see if the guys are up to the task. What it will mean is taking care of business against the likes of two remaining games each with Topeka and St. Louis. If the guys play like they did last Sunday against the Roadrunners they still have a shot. Time will tell, but there does seem to be a different atmosphere around the team.

The Jr. Blues acquired forward Kevin Loppatto from Stover this week. With this addition the roster is now just one short of the 23 allowed this year. Kevin arrived from Kansas City around 5:00 pm and will be in the lineup tonight. Welcome to the Jr. Blues family young man (along with your parents Greg and Sandy). Your reputation precedes you and we look forward to watching you play in the Blue, Gold and White! And we look forward to welcoming Greg and Sandy personally when they can make a game! Yes, indeed, Welcome Aboard! We are glad you're in the family!

It's about 37 minutes till game time as I write this, so, there's some more work to do before the teams come out for warmups. There is just one more thing to say at this point, "Let's go Blues!"

Both teams played the first period a little tentative until Taylor Wolfe score his first goal of the game at 13:34 of the period. The good guys went to the locker room at the first intermission with a 1 - 0 lead, and never looked back. Sitler (who has been nicknamed by the Coach as "Tree Trunk") scored, along with Wolfe once again, and Mike Williams took a bullet pass from Mike Fallon and buried the puck for the third goal in the second. That made it 4 - 0 at the second intermission. Taylor Wolfe got his hat trick 57 seconds into the third period, but by the time the fans were made aware of the hat trick play had resumed, consequently no hats were thrown onto the ice. Final score was 5 - 0. The Jr. Blues are suddenly handling the puck much better and playing tougher. When Chicago went to their hotel last night they knew they had met a buzz saw at the "Nellie"!

Tonight is February 5, 2011 and the Polar Bear Party is about to get under way at the Nelson Center. The Party has been moved indoors, and fans are beginning to come into the rink. T.J. Poganski will be back in uniform after serving his one game suspension from the fiasco in Topeka. A squirt from his water bottle was welled deserved, even if it did cost him a game. Okay, enough about Topeka. The Roadrunners will be in house in two weeks for a rematch. After all the growling I've done I just hope our fans don't act like the small percentage did there. I have to confess I've gotten to know a few of their fans and they are super people who love their team.

The Blues can make up some ground tonight with a win over Chicago. The two teams we're chasing are idle tonight and a win would get us within six points of fourth place which is the final playoff.

The game got under way about 15 minutes late as the weather kept the two linesmen from arriving on time for the game. Cihak scored for Chicago at the 3:06 mark of the first and that remained the score through the first two periods. The hockey gods are absent from the Jr. Blues bench tonight, it seems as the good guys have had four or five excellent scoring chances without getting the puck in the net. After two periods the score remained 1 - 0.

The third period is on the way and the Blues need an early goal to get the momentum going for the home team. So I'll say it again..."Let's go Blues"!

I said we needed to score early and the guys must have heard me. Out they came for period 3 and with a vengeance to boot. They scored early, then scored again, and did it once more to take the lead 3 - 1. It's a good thing they did too as Chicago rounded out the scoring with a goal late in the game. Final score was 3 - 2 in one of the most exciting games I've called this season. Now that is an encouraging three games in a row, and we gained two more points on the last playoff spot in doing so. We are just six points back after tonight with 16 games left in the regular season. Go get ‘em guys! We are still in the hunt!

Next week it's a home and home against St. Louis. We had a super crowd tonight, let's do it again next Friday night and cheer the Blues to victory.

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