Jr. Blues Host Michigan for two games inside Nelson Center

Springfield Junior Blues (15-20-2, 32 points) vs. Michigan Warriors (16-20-5, 37 points)

 Friday, January 27th, 2012

Michigan Warriors @ Springfield Junior Blues (Nelson Center)--7pm Central Time

Saturday, January 28th, 2012
Michigan Warriors @ Springfield Junior Blues (Nelson Center)--7pm Central Time

SEASON SERIES (HEAD-TO-HEAD): NONE - First meeting between the two teams this season.

TEAM LEADERS:

Michigan: Alex White (40 pts--24G, 16A), Joseph Ferriss (29 pts--10G, 14A), Chris Eckler (25 pts--9G, 16A), Martin Gruse (24 pts--11 G, 13A),  Tyler Perpich (8G, 12A)

Springfield: Chris Sitler (37 pts--15G, 22A), Kyle Cook (35 pts--18G, 17A), Josef Pontasch (35 pts--11G, 24A), Ethan Nauman (27 pts--10G, 17A), Gavin Tufte (25 pts--8G, 17A)

Michigan Warriors Last Five Games (1-4):

Traverse City 2, Michigan 3—Jan. 7^th
Michigan 2, Port Huron 5—Jan. 11^th
Michigan 0, Kalamazoo 8—Jan. 14^th
Kalamazoo 6, Michigan 2—Jan. 20^th
Michigan 3, Kalamazoo 5—Jan. 21^st

T-Cobb’s Game Preview/Scouting Report: vs. Michigan Warriors

After some much needed time off, the Springfield Junior Blues will be back in action tonight when they host the North-division’s fourth-place team, the Michigan Warriors, at 7pm inside the Nelson Center for a North American Hockey League regular season contest.

The Jr. Blues (15-20-2) enter tonight’s contest currently holding 32 points and tied with Coulee Region for third-place in the MidWest division. As for the opponent tonight, the Warriors (16-20-5), they are in fourth place in the North division with 37 points, and are just four points behind Traverse City for third place.

Michigan comes into the game tonight with four straight losses. The Warriors haven’t won since they beat Traverse City 3-to-2 at home on January 7^th, and during the losing streak they have been outscored by a total of 24-to-7.

The Jr. Blues are currently 8-11-2 inside the Nelson Center this season, and one thing is for sure: if this team wants to have any shot at being a contender for the Robertson Cup, they have got to defend the home ice a lot better in the second half of the season than they did in the first half.

Michigan is currently 6-12-2 away from their home ice, but what is even worse, they haven’t won a road game since they beat Traverse City 4-to-1 on Dec. 9^th. This also means that they are long overdue for a road win, but hopefully a big crowd will be on hands for this game and the team will be energized; but when a long layoff of two weeks without any games, this team should be more than ready.

With the team finally getting healthy, they look ready for a pretty deep run. Guys like Ethan Nauman, Mike Williams, and Kevin Walters all getting back on the ice at the same time, it adds a lot of depth to an already pretty deep team. The Jr. Blues have five players with 25 points or more so far, and with excellent performances from the new goalie Gabe Antoni, I am expecting big things from this squad for the next two months. Chris Sitler (37pts), Kyle Cook (35 pts), and Josef Pontasch (35 pts) are three of the most electricifying players in the league with the puck, and what them three do for the rest of the season will eventually prevail as to how far this team can go. Head coach Joe Dibble has a track-record of making big things happen in the second half.

The Warriors aren’t really a team that scare you with there goal-scoring, but they do have a pretty good defensive team with a good goalie. There leading goal scorer is Alex White (24), but after him it isn’t very impressive. Martin Gruse (11 goals) is second on the team, and both Joesph Ferriss (10 goals), and Sheldon Taylor (10 goals) are both tied for third on the team. If the boys in blue can score early and build an early few goal lead, it shouldn’t take much from Antoni (or atleast as much as he has done behind the net thus far for us). Brach Tiller is 14-14-3 this season and has allowed 89 goals, while he has saved 1,037 shots, and not to mention the kid owns a .921 save-percentage. He is the real deal, but with a wild Springfield crowd, and a motivated Jr. Blues team, I’m expecting this team to find the net early and often.

The new goalie for Springfield, Gabe Antoni, is the real deal as well. In four starts with the Jr. Blues, Antoni is 3-0-1 with seven goals allowed on 129 shots. He beat the Saint Louis Bandits twice, and his only lost was in overtime against Kalamazoo. He has brought rejuvinated hope back inside the Nelson Center and inside the Jr. Blues locker room. How he performs tonight could go a long way—as well as the rest of the season.

T-Cobb’s Prediction: Jr. Blues and Warriors split the games 1-1. Springfield gets the win on Friday but ultimately falls on Saturday night. The team’s are about even on paper, but it’s pretty safe to say that the offensive attack of Springfield probably makes the difference in who is better overall, especially if Antoni continues what he has been doing.