Springfield Jr. Blues -- (11-15-2, 24 Points) -- Seventh Place in North division
Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings -- (17-10-1, 35 Points) -- Third Place in North division
Two Games -- Friday, December 14th and Saturday, December 15th
Both games inside the Nelson Center; puck will drop at 7:05 pm Central Time
Season Series---8 Head-to-Head Matchups in 2012-2013
(Kalamazoo leads season series 2 games to 0 games after two games)
-Game 1: Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings 2, Jr. Blues 1 (November 24th) Inside West-Borgess
-Game 2: Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings 2, Jr. Blues 1 (November 25th) Inside West Borgess
-Game 3: Kalamazoo at Springfield (December 14th) Nelson Center in Springfield
-Game 4: Kalamazoo at Springfield (December 15th) Nelson Center in Springfield
-Game 5: Springfield at Kalmazoo (February 9th) West Borgess in Michigan
-Game 6: Springfield at Kalmazoo (February 10th) West Borgess in Michigan
-Game 7: Kalamazoo at Springfield (March 29th) Nelson Center in Springfield
-Game 8: Kalamazoo at Springfield (March 30th) Nelson Center in Springfield
Last Weekends Results (Jr. Blues and Jr. K-Wings)
-The Jr. Blues split at home with the Topeka Roadrunners one game-to-one game.
-The Jr. K-Wings split at home with the Soo Eagles one game-to-one game.
The Big Story Inside the Nelson Center this Weekend
Their are a lot of folks interested in what happens inside the Nelson Center this weekend from around the North American Hockey League following the dramatic victory against Topeka last Saturday night that started up some fireworks. How will the Springfield Jr. Blues respond following the end of the five game losing skid? The direction of this teams season will be on display when these two division-foes have the puck dropped at 7:05 on Friday night.
Team Scopes
Springfield Jr. Blues-The Jr. Blues enter this weekends series against Kalamazoo with some much-needed motivation and confidence. After getting blown off the ice on Friday night, the team responded by Mike Fazio scoring with 29 seconds left to break a 2-2 tie. After the game ended, an all-out brawl broke out between all of the players on both teams. Before capturing the victory though, the Jr. Blues had lost five straight games, which was Saturday's dramatic finish away from being swept in three straight weekend series. They are 8-7-1 through sixteen games at home inside the Nellie this season. The team is led by the scoring combination of Brett Skibba (14) and Nate Chasteen (8), who have combined for a total of 22 goals. A key to winning this weekend will hinge on the performances of both goalies. Matt Leon seems to be regaining his confidence back, and Ryan Kellenberger was an honorable mention for 'Star of the Week'. Head Coach Tony Zasowski has the team hopefully reaching their peak as they seem pumped up and ready to go after the conclusion of the Topeka series. The special teams will play a huge factor this weekend as well as the team is 14th (15.2%) in the NAHL on the advantage; and 17th (82.2%) in the NAHL on the penalty kill.
Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings-Kalamazoo enters the Nelson Center this weekend as the third place team in the North division, good enough to be 11 points and four spots ahead of the home team. The Jr. K-Wings are 6-6-1 through 13 games on the road this season, and are at the .500 mark as of right now. Head Coach Marc Fakler has done a fine job coaching this season, and has the Jr. K-Wings tenth (17.3%) in the league on the powerplay -- and twelveth (83.6%) in the league on the penalty kill. Kalamazoo is lead by Robbie Payne and Josh Dangel, who are threats to score anytime they get the puck. Payne leads the team with 27 points and 14 goals -- and Dangel has 21 points total and leads the team with 16 assists. Defenseman Sam Johnson and forward Christian George combined for +14 on the ice together, as Johnson is +8 for the season, himself. Alex Okicki is the teams number one goalie, and through 17 starts, he is 10-6-1 between the pipes. Marcus Due-Boje is the number two option, and he is 4-3-0 through seven starts. Kalamazoo split last weekend against the Soo Eagles at home in Michigan as they won their last game 5 to 2 on Saturday night.
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