St. Louis Jr. Blues (3-1-0, 6 pts) at Dayton Falcons (1-4-1, 3 pts)
VENUE: South Metro Sports, Centerville, Ohio
GAME TIMES: September 30 at 6 PM, October 1 at 1 PM (all times Central)
WHERE TO FOLLOW: All Jr. Blues games are streamed live on HockeyTV.com (subscription required). On Twitter, follow @JrBluesGameday for live updates.
A QUICK RECAP: The Jr. Blues come into this weekend’s games off of a sweep of the Wisconsin Whalers, winning on Saturday 5-4 in a shootout and then romping home with a 10-1 scoreline on Sunday.
AWARDS TIME: Several Jr. Blues were listed in the Bauer/NA3HL Divisional Stars of the Week, chief amongst them Dan Dunaway who was named the First Star in the Midwest Division. Dunaway scored four goals and three assists across the weekend, including a power-play marker in both games. Ethan Dabbs, who potted a hat-trick (including his first junior hockey goal) on Sunday, was also named as an Honorable Mention. In addition, Dylan Carroll’s shoot-out goal from Saturday was named to the NA3HL’s Plays of the Week.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: Dayton comes into this series after splitting their last two games against Nashville, picking up their first win in the process. Previously known as the Cincinnati Thunder, the Falcons moved roughly an hour north to Dayton last year in what was originally thought to be a temporary switch after their previous home rink in the Queen City was purchased and closed. However, earlier this year they made Dayton their permanent home, changing their colors and adopting a logo that pays a nod to their new city’s long association with aviation. Last year the Jr. Blues swept the season series versus the then-Thunder: in addition the two sides have also met in the past two Midwest Division semi-finals, St. Louis winning both in sweeps.
JUNIOR NOTES: The home opener for the Jr. Blues is next week, on Friday, October 6 against the North Iowa Bulls. Faceoff is at 7 pm, and following the conclusion of the game fans will get a chance to skate for free with Jr. Blues players. It is strongly recommended that those who wish to jump on the ice post-game bring their own skates: while the Affton Ice Rink will have a small number of skates to borrow, sizes are limited and they do not have rental skates.
