St. Louis Jr. Blues vs Peoria Mustangs
VENUE: Affton Ice Rink, Affton, Missouri
GAME TIMES: September 28 at 7 pm, September 29 at 1 pm (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.
A QUICK RECAP: The Jr. Blues took two out of three from the Coulee Region Chill last weekend, bookending a 3-1 loss on Saturday with a 7-2 win Friday and a 6-4 victory on Sunday.
PLAYING FOR THE FALLEN: Saturday marks the Jr. Blues’ fifth annual First Responders Game, where the hosts will be wearing jerseys to honor Officer Mike Langsdorf, a former Affton hockey player killed while serving as a North County Police Cooperative officer this summer. Fans are advised to come out early for a special attraction, as the STL Responders and STL Fire On Ice will play an exhibition game at 5 pm preceding the Jr. Blues-Mustangs game that night. Admission on Saturday is $10, with all proceeds going to the Langsdorf family.
ALUMNI UPDATE: 2017-18 Jr. Blue Bud Winter was recently named captain of the St. Cloud Blizzard of the NAHL: he has one goal and three assists in four games. Elsewhere in the NAHL, Blake Dangos (STL 2018-19) has played four games with a +2 rating for Janesville, while Mark Capkovic (STL 2017-18) was recently traded from Shreveport to the Lone Star Brahmas. North of the border in Canadian junior hockey, Mikael Foucher (STL 2018-19) picked up his first win Tuesday for the Swan Valley Stampeders of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League stopping 33 of 37 shots, while Dante Jones (STL 2017-19) has six points (3 G, 3 A) in as many games for the Milton Menace of the Ontario Junior League.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS: Peoria comes into the weekend with a 2-3 record, having been swept at home by North Iowa last weekend. Returners Austin Keil (3 G, 3 A) and Zach Eddington (2 G, 4 A) lead a solid squad for the Mustangs, while returning goaltender Jaden Gardner has shown that his good 2018-19 season was no fluke, posting a 2.16 goals-against average on the young season. This is the first of eight meetings between the two long-time rivals this year: St. Louis won last year’s season series 5-0-1.
JUNIOR NOTES: After this weekend, the Jr. Blues will be flying to Providence, Rhode Island for the inaugural NA3HL East Showcase, held just over the state line at the New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The Jr. Blues will play four games at the NESV as they take on the New England Knights, New England Stars, the host Northeast Generals and the Atlanta Capitals. We’ll have a full preview of this event, and be sure to follow @JrBluesGameday on Twitter as he’ll have exclusive behind the scenes content.
