JANESVILLE, WI — Points are crucial now for the Jets, holders of the Midwest Division’s fourth and final playoff spot, begin a home-and-home series with the Chippewa Steel tonight in Chippewa Falls.
Before this week’s Top Prospects Tournament in Attleboro, Massachusetts, the Steel edged out the Jets in a close, 3-1 game last Saturday in Janesville. In that game, the Jets were able to cut their deficit to one in the opening frame, but goaltender Trent Burnham then turned in more than 41 minutes of shutout hockey.
Getting to the proverbial “dirty areas” was an area for improvement, identified Jets head coach Corey Leivermann following that game. The Jets had registered 39 shots on goal, but generally lost puck battles in the corners and positional battles for net front presence.
Both teams had an abbreviated, unusual practice week to prepare for the upcoming second and third consecutive matches against one another. Monday and Tuesday’s Top Prospects Tournament was another phenomenal success for the NAHL’s midseason scouting event, drawing hundreds of scouts representing nearly every NCAA Division I school and nearly every NHL team. The Jets and the Steel sent a combined 11 players to the event.
- G Trent Burnham (Chippewa, Team Midwest)
- D Luke Farthing (Chippewa, Team Midwest)
- D Nick Gonrowski (Janesville, Team Midwest)
- D Grant Hindman (Janesville, Selects Red)
- F Killian Kicker-Olson (Chippewa, Selects Red)
- F Nick Michel (Janesville, Team Midwest)
- F Isaac Moberg (Chippewa, Team Midwest)
- F Isaac Novak (Janesville, Selects Red)
- G Grant Riley (Janesville, Selects Red)
- D Anthony Szurlej (Janesville, Team Midwest)
- F Jake Vaughan (Chippewa, Team Midwest)
Tonight’s game in Chippewa Falls is the NAHL’s Free Game of the Week on HockeyTV.com. Tomorrow night’s game from the Janesville Ice Arena is also carried on HockeyTV, but will require a subscription.
| Place | Team | GP | Record | Pts |
| 1 | x – Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 47 | 35-9-1-2 | 73 |
| 2 | Kenai River Brown Bears | 48 | 25-17-3-3 | 56 |
| 3 | Chippewa Steel | 43 | 27-15-0-1 | 55 |
| 4 | Janesville Jets | 46 | 20-24-1-0 | 41 |
| 5 | Minnesota Magicians | 46 | 15-22-6-3 | 39 |
| 6 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 47 | 14-29-2-2 | 32 |
Fri Feb 21 | 7:10pm CT
Sat Feb 22 | 7:05pm CT
JANESVILLE JETS
Record: 20-24-1-0 (4th, Midwest)
Road Record: 9-13-0-0
Home Record: 8-10-1-0
Last Ten Games: 7-3-0-0
Goals For/Game: 2.78 (19th)
Goals Against/Game: 3.67 (21st)
Shots For/Game: 29.64 (19th)
Shots Against/Game: 34.02 (21st)
Power Play: 21.5% (11th)
Penalty Kill: 80.8% (13th)
Top Scorers: F Nick Nardella (45GP—16G-26A—42PTS); F Isaac Novak (39GP—19G-18A—37PTS); F Charlie Schoen (29GP—4G-20A—24PTS)
Goaltenders: Grant Riley (13-17-1-0, 3.23 GAA, .907 SV%); Riley Sims (4-3-0-0, 3.94 GAA, .880 SV%)
Rostered Commitments: D Grant Hindman (Lake Superior State); F Max Itagaki (RPI); F Parker Lindauer (Northern Michigan); F Nick Nardella (Michigan Tech); F Isaac Novak (Wisconsin); G Grant Riley (Boston College); F Jackson Sabo (Air Force); F Charlie Schoen (Arizona State); F Arsenii Smekhnov (UConn)
CHIPPEWA STEEL
Record: 27-15-0-1 (3rd, Midwest)
Home Record: 16-4-0-1
Road Record: 9-9-0-0
Last Ten Games: 6-3-0-1
Goals For/Game: 3.33 (11th)
Goals Against/Game: 2.67 (8th)
Shots For/Game: 32.07 (13th)
Shots Against/Game: 31.35 (11th)
Power Play: 26.8% (2nd)
Penalty Kill: 77.2% (21st)
Top Scorers: F Jacob Dirks (43GP—24G-18A—42PTS); F Connor Szmul (43GP—19G-23A—42PTS); F Killian Kiecker-Olson (30GP—12G-24A—36PTS)
Goaltenders: Trent Burnham (17-11-0-1, 2.41 GAA, .927 SV%); Grant Boldt (10-3-0-0, 2.70 GAA, .903 SV%)
Rostered Commitments: F Jacob Dirks (Ferris State); F Connor Szmul (Alabama-Huntsville)
100+ NCAA commitments since 2009.