JANESVILLE, WI — The Jets hold their 4th annual Salute to Service weekend tonight and tomorrow as they host the Minnesota Magicians in the season’s first matchup between the clubs.
Janesville closed out last weekend’s visit to Springfield with a Saturday win over the Jr. Blues, and need to string together a streak to climb back up the Midwest Division standings. The high-potential but generally inexperienced roster has grown a lot in just the two months since Sept 13 opener. Some roster adds followed USHL cut deadlines, and key contributors are starting to get healthy and back into the lineup.
On the other bench, another traditional Midwest contender has opened the season slowly. The Magicians led the division for the bulk of last season and finished with a franchise-high 75 points in the standings. This roster has lost some of last year’s talent, particularly in net with Ethan Haider, now of the USHL Sioux City Musketeers and a 5th round draft pick of the Nashville Predators. The Magicians hope to end a three-game skid tonight and, like Janesville, need to start banking points as the NAHL schedule continues into the second quarter. Five Division I commitments on Minnesota’s roster, four of which are forwards, show the team’s high-upside talent level.
Minnesota won the 12-game series last year, 9-3-0-0, though Janesville won its first home games that season, played in December. The all-time record between the two teams is much more even. The Magicians hold the slim lead with 24 wins in 46 total games.
Fri Nov 8 | 7:00pm CT
Sat Nov 9 | 7:00pm CT
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JANESVILLE JETS
Record: 6-10-1-0 (6th, Midwest)
Home Record: 0-4-1-0
Last Ten Games: 3-6-1-0
Goals For/Game: 2.59 (17th)
Goals Against/Game: 3.41 (20th)
Shots For/Game: 28.65 (19th)
Shots Against/Game: 31.35 (16th)
Power Play: 19.6% (12th)
Penalty Kill: 81.0% (12th)
Top Scorers: F Isaac Novak (12GP—6G-7A—13TS); F Nick Nardella (17GP—6G-7A—13TS); D Grant Hindman (15GP—2G-7A—9TS)
Goaltenders: Grant Riley (4-7-1-0; 3.32 GAA; .897 SV%); Sam Evola (2-1-0-1; 3.60 GAA; .889 SV%)
Rostered Commitments: F Jake Dunlap (UMass Amherst); D Grant Hindman (Lake Superior State); F Max Itagaki (RPI); F Parker Lindauer (Northern Michigan); F Nick Nardella (Michigan Tech); F Isaac Novak (Wisconsin); D Casey Roepke (Wisconsin); F Charlie Schoen (Arizona State)
MINNESOTA MAGICIANS
Record: 4-7-3-2 (5th, Midwest)
Road Record: 3-2-1-1
Last Ten Games: 3-4-1-2
Goals For/Game: 2.19 (21st)
Goals Against/Game: 3.19 (16th)
Shots For/Game: 29.88 (15th)
Shots Against/Game: 30.31 (12th)
Power Play: 12.8% (19th)
Penalty Kill: 78.4% (18th)
Top Scorers: F Marko Reifenberger (14GP—4G-6A—10PTS); F Jimmy Doyle (11GP—5G-3A—8PTS); Multiple Players (7PTS)
Goaltenders: Wes Mankowski (1-1-2-1; 1.96 GAA; .940 SV%); Samuel Vyletelka (2-3-0-1; 2.64 GAA; .911 SV%)
Rostered Commitments: F Josh Bohlin (Wisconsin); F Rob Christy (Colorado College); F Jake Hale (Minnesota-Duluth); F Trevor Kukkonen (Michigan Tech); D Brett Oberle (Minnesota-Duluth)
100+ NCAA commitments since 2009.