St. Louis Jr. Blues (29-5-2, 50 pts) vs Peoria Mustangs (23-5-1, 47 pts)
VENUE: Affton Ice Rink, Affton, Mo. and Owens Center, Peoria, Ill.
GAME TIMES: January 18 at 7 PM at Affton, January 19 at 6:45 PM at Peoria (all times Central)
WHERE TO FOLLOW: All Jr. Blues home games are streamed live and in high-definition on HockeyTV.com (subscription required). Jr. Blues director of media Kevin Gier will be on the call. On Twitter, follow @JrBluesHockey for live updates, as well as on Instagram @STLJrBlues.
A QUICK RECAP: St. Louis will be looking to rebound from their first series loss since last season against North Iowa, as they dropped both games last weekend to the Granite City Lumberjacks by identical 5-2 scorelines. Matt Monreal was the standout performer of the weekend, picking up three points (1 G, 2 A) in the losing cause.
REGAN GETS ELECTED: Goaltender Jack Regan became the Jr. Blues’ first NAHL mid-season promotion of the season, as he was called up to the NAHL’s Lone Star Brahmas for this weekend’s series against Corpus Christi. The Sylvania, Ohio native has been a massive addition to the Jr. Blues, with a 3-1-0 record, 2.00 GAA, and .932 save percentage. The Jr. Blues have tapped Dylan Bak as his relief replacement: the St. Louis University High ‘keeper will wear number 31.
A BIG HOCKEY WEEKEND: The Jr. Blues are proud to invite all teams in St. Louis for tournaments over the MLK Day weekend to join us for a great, family-friendly night of hockey on Friday. Kids wearing team jerseys receive free admission, and for all adults we’re bringing back our ever-popular Dollar Drafts at Barc’s Place, where pints of Bud Light or Busch are just a buck.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS: Peoria lies third in the Central Division coming into this weekend’s series, five points behind Milwaukee and also five points clear of a fast-surging Coulee Region. Jack Radley looks determined to make his final year of junior hockey a good one, with 55 points (26 G, 29 A) in 33 games played. Jaden Gardner has quietly made his mark as one of the league’s top goaltenders, with a 1.76 goals-against average, .935 save percentage, and six shutouts. These will be the final two games of the 2018-19 season series between St. Louis and Peoria: the Jr. Blues lead the series 4-0-1 this year.
JUNIOR NOTES: Saturday’s game will mark the Jr. Blues’ first true road game since November 3rd, when the Jr. Blues beat Milwaukee 6-5….This is not the first time the Jr. Blues have played a “home and home” series: in 2016-17, they twice played Evansville back-to-back at each other’s home rink.
