The St Louis Jr. Blues of the NA3HL are proud to announce that forward Frankie Melton has been promoted to the Bismarck Bobcats of the North American Hockey League.
This season, the 5’7”, 165lb forward from Imperial, MO has been a consistent figure at the top of the NA3HL scoring tables: he leads the league in goals with 37 and is tied for second in total points with 55. He has scored hat-tricks in two out of his last three games: at home January 6 to Evansville and at Cincinnati on January 10.
Commenting on the move, Jr. Blues head coach Chris Flaugher said: "Frankie has been a steady source of offense for us and a name you see near the top of leader board for goals and total points. His offensive production has earned him a chance to get back to the NAHL with the Bobcats. With this opportunity, we hope we are saying good-bye to Melton for the season and wish him the best of luck while in North Dakota."
This is also not Melton’s first call-up to the nation’s only Tier II junior league: last season, after excellent performances with the Jr. Blues, he joined the Corpus Christi Ice Rays, where he scored four goals and eight points in 24 games.
Melton joins fellow forwards Zach Mitchell (Brookings Blizzard) and Bayley Marshall (Kenai River Brown Bears) as Jr. Blues players promoted to the NAHL this season, with goalie Zach Young also spending time as an emergency backup this season with the Springfield Jr. Blues.
Flaugher added: "The amount of player movement between the 3HL to the NAHL just goes to show that our league is a premier place for a player to play in while still trying to accomplish their goals to play in the NAHL and beyond. We are extremely proud that our players have received an opportunity and do well in those opportunities. We strive for player advancement and development and so far have been successful in doing so."
