VENUE: New England Sports Village, Attleboro, Mass.
GAME TIMES: October 5 at 4:15 pm vs New England Knights, October 6 at 3:15 pm vs New England Stars, October 7 at 1 pm vs Northeast Generals, October 8 at 8 am vs Atlanta Capitals (all times Central)
WHERE TO FOLLOW: All Jr. Blues home games are streamed live and in high definition on HockeyTV.com (subscription required). On Twitter, follow @JrBluesHockey and follow @stljrblues on Instagram for live updates, and search “St. Louis Jr. Blues” on Youtube for highlights. In addition, follow @JrBluesGameday on Twitter for exclusive behind-the-scenes content of our trip to New England.
A QUICK RECAP: The Jr. Blues swept the Peoria Mustangs last weekend, winning 4-2 on First Responders Night while raising more than $8,000 for the family of Officer Mike Langsdorf. On Sunday the Jr. Blues left it late to beat Peoria 3-2, with Mike Deeba’s “pull-up” game-winner with under a minute to play earning the #1 spot on the NA3HL Plays of the Week.
AWARDS TIME: Jr. Blues blue-liner Joey Boccardi was named as runner-up in the Bauer/NA3HL Defenseman of the Month honors for September, with three goals, five assists, and a plus/minus rating of +8. Honorable mentions in that monthly rating went to Sean Hofstetter in the forwards category and Brett Tome in the Vaughn/NA3HL Goalie of the Month awards.
SHOWCASE LOWDOWN: This is the first-ever NA3HL Eastern Showcase, with the nine NA3HL clubs making their home on the Eastern seaboard being joined at the Northeast Generals’ home rink by St. Louis, Atlanta, and the Texas Roadrunners. The Jr. Blues will play four points-paying games in Attleboro: the first two are a “showcase” format of 17 minute periods and a “halftime” break, where the clock will stop at 8:30 of the 2nd period to clean the ice. This game format should be familiar to fans as it is the same one used for the NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS: Formerly known as the Oswego Stampede, the Knights were sold over the summer to the Lovell family, who have a long history of hockey success in Boston, and moved to Raynham, Massachusetts. The club is still getting used to their new surroundings, entering the weekend with a 1-5-0 record. Leevi Kervinen brings quite a bit of experience to the Knights, and should be a player to watch: the Finn is playing his fourth season of NA3HL hockey, and has two goals and three assists in six games.
SCOUTING THE STARS: Fraser Cup Finals participants two seasons ago, the men from right on the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border have long been one of the standard-bearers for the NA3HL on the East Coast. Head coach Darryl Locke usually puts together a quality squad, and this year is no exception, as veterans Mike Lempiainen (3 G, 6 A) and Derek Flynn (4 G, 3 A) have been joined by high-flying new talent like Anthony Viola (5 G, 7 A). The Stars and Jr. Blues have met before at the 2016 NA3HL Showcase in Blaine, where New England won 5-4 in a shootout.
SCOUTING THE GENERALS: The hosts bring a veteran-heavy team into the weekend at the NESV, with their top three scorers—Kolye Bankauskas (6 G, 9 A), captain Steve Gerbis (4 G, 11 A), and Carson Asper (7 G, 7 A) all having worn Gens orange last year. Northeast currently lies third in their division with a 4-2 record, trailing Lewiston/Auburn and the Stars. St. Louis played the Generals last year in Blaine, winning 6-1.
SCOUTING THE CAPITALS: The Jr. Blues will face a Capitals team that has largely held their own in the South Division, entering the weekend 3-3-2. C.T. Johnson, whom Jr. Blues fans may remember from the last time these two sides met in 2018, leads the Caps with five goals and eight assists in 8 games.
JUNIOR NOTES: The Jr. Blues will be back at home next weekend against the Wausau RiverWolves: game times are Saturday, October 12 at 7 pm and Sunday, October 13 at 1 pm.