Jr. Blues, RoadRunners open up second-half and close out 2011' with two in Topeka (Series Preview)

Springfield Junior Blues

(12-18-1, 25 points--fourth place in the MidWest division)

Topeka RoadRunners

(19-11-2, 40 points--third place in the South division)

Game One: Jr. Blues @ RoadRunners

(12/30--Friday night, 7:05 pm, Kansas Expo)

Game Two: Jr. Blues @ RoadRunners

 (12/31--Saturday night, 6 pm, Kansas Expo)

Team Leaders:
Springfield Jr. Blues: Kyle Cook (33 points--16 G, 17 A), Chris Sitler (33 points--12 G, 21 A), Josef Pontasch (32 points--11 G, 21 A), Gavin Tufte (25 points--8 G, 17 A), Ethan Nauman (24 points--10 G, 14 A)
Topeka RoadRunners: Ryan White (36 points--11 G, 25 A), Brian Christie (26 points--14 G, 12 A), Dan Dupell (23 points--12 G, 11 A), Jake Lynes (21 points--9 G, 12 A), Kyle Sharkey (21 points--8 G, 13 A)

Previous meetings this season: (4 games, Topeka leads 3-1):
-November 4th: Topeka 4, Springfield 2
(Win-Josh Hillegas, 19-of-21 saves, Loss-Tyler Parks, 43-of-47 saves)
-November 5th: Topeka 4, Springfield 3
(Win-Josh Hillegas, 28-of-31 saves, Loss-Caleb Neal, 21-of-25 saves)
-November 18th: Topeka 3, Springfield 1
(Win-Peter Traber, 23-of-24 saves, Loss-Tyler Parks, 21-of-23 saves)
-November 19th: Springfield 4, Topeka 0
(Win-Connor Girard, 21-of-21 saves, Loss-Peter Traber, 21-of-25 saves)

Topeka RoadRunners Last Five Games:
-Topeka 4, Corpus Christi 1 (Dec. 2nd) -- overtime
-Topeka 5, Wichita Falls 1 (Dec. 9th)
-Topeka 3, Wichita Falls 2 (Dec. 10th) -- shootout
-Topeka 2, Wenatchee 1 (Dec. 16th)
-Wenatchee 7, Topeka 1 (Dec. 17th)

T-Cobb's Pregame Thoughts' and Predictions:

Both the Jr. Blues and the Topeka RoadRunners are two teams that showed glimpses of really good hockey at some point in the NAHL's first half--but need to show a lot of improvement if they want to make a serious run at the 'Roby Cup' this March. Chris Sitler enters the game with a seven game-point streak, and has gotten atleast one point in eleven of the last fourteen games for Springfield. The Jr. Blues are 1-3 against Topeka in four meetings on the season, and are currently 1-1 inside the Kansas Expo, which is where both games will be held at to end the year of 2011, this weekend. The Jr. Blues enter the game on Friday night following a three game losing slide to the hands of the first-place Saint Louis Bandits, while the RoadRunners enter the game coming off a 7-to-1 loss to Wenatchee, but they also have won four of there last five contests. Also keep in mind that the last time the two teams played, it was inside the same arena and Connor Girard recorded his first career shutout on November 19th. The two game series should be an exciting one, and i'm looking forward to it.

T-Cobb's Weekend Prediction:

Junior Blues win both games in Topeka. A big weekend from the big three.

(Cook, Sitler, Pontasch)