September 22, 2022
By Justin Yuroff
Last week’s 19th annual North American Hockey League (NAHL) Showcase brought all 29 of the league’s teams together under one roof in Blaine, MN. This event marked the beginning of the 2022-23 regular season for most teams, and for the Jr. Blues, their 30th season in the NAHL did not start the way they wanted with losses to the El Paso Rhinos and the Austin Bruins. They turned things around on day 3 of the Showcase with a come from behind win against the Shreveport Mudbugs. The Blues were down 2-1 going into the 3rd, but 3rd period goals from Hadley Hudak, Jagur McClelland, and Tyler Borgula propelled them to their first win of the regular season. Goaltender Jed Baliotti stopped 20 of 22 Shreveport shots to earn his first win as a Jr. Blue.
The 4th and final day of the Showcase brought a matchup with last year’s Roberson Cup champions, the New Jersey Titans. Returning Jr. Blues Brayden Cook and James Callahan each scored their first goal of the season, and newcomers Justin Kingery and Jake Peterson each added one of their own on the way to a 4-0 shutout of the Titans. Goaltender Aksel Reid picked up the win, the shutout, and even his first point of the season with an assist on the Callahan goal.
The Jr. Blues are back in action September 30th and October 1st when they host the Fairbanks Ice Dogs at the Nelson Center for their first home games of the 2022-23 regular season. The doors open at 6:00 p.m. for the 7:05 p.m. game on the 30th and at 5:00 p.m. for the 6:05 p.m. game on October 1st. Be sure to get there early to enjoy the pre-game happy hour. Also, save money and skip the line by ordering your tickets ahead of time at tickets.jrblues.com.
