CHIPPEWA FALLS, WI – It’s still very early, but a big weekend of Hockey within the Midwest Division is taking place with the hottest team in the NAHL the Chippewa Steel (6-3-0) taking on the first place Janesville Jets (6-3-2) in a home and home series Friday and Saturday. Friday’s game will take place at the Chippewa Area Ice Arena with puck drop at 7:00 PM CT, and Saturday will be the first true road game for the Steel at Janesville Ice Arena with puck drop at 7:05 PM.
TICKET AND BROADCAST INFORMATION
You can purchase tickets for this Friday’s home game HERE, also the Steel are holding First Responders Night so all First Responders get free entry into the game. If you are unable to make it to the Chippewa Area Ice Arena or travel to Janesville, you can watch the game from the comfort of your own home on NAHLTV. You can watch the Steel all season long on NAHLTV and listen to the “Voice of the Steel” Joey Erickson.
SCOUTING THE STEEL
The Steel have won five straight dating back to Sept. 16 when the defeated the Bismarck Bobcats 4-3 in the finale of the 2023 NAHL Showcase. Since then the Steel have found a healthy dose of timely scoring, stingy defense and great goaltending. Rookie Ajay White has been at the forefront of goaltending posting a 2.00 GAA and .920 SV% in his five starts with a 4-1 record. Veteran and Colgate Commit Carter Wisheart is nothing scoff at as well, winner of his last two starts has brought his GAA down to 4.25. Leading scorer Talan Blanck had a fantastic weekend against Springfield picking up five points including three goals and two assists putting him up to 11 points in his first nine games this season.
SCOUTING THE JETS
The Jets got off to a hot start in 2023-24 and currently sit atop of the Midwest Division with 12 points ahead of their in state rivals. Janesville is coming off a split against the Wisconsin Windigo losing game one 4-3 and winning convincingly 7-2 the next night. Head coach Joe Dibble is having a bounce back season in year seven after finishing 8th in the division last year. Haden Kruse has been a standout, he will head into the weekend coming off being the Midwest Division Player of the week with six points against the Windigo last weekend. He has exploded for 18 points in the first eleven games, so the Steel will have to be very aware of #12 when he’s on the ice. In the net, Matthew Alberti has started nine games posting a 2.56 GAA and 0.930 SV% to begin the year with a 6-1-2 record, he will more than likely get one start if not two this weekend.
TOP LINE DOMINATION
The Steel’s top line of Talan Blanck, Peyton Platter and Noah Grolnic combined for 13 points last weekend against the Springfield Jr. Blues. Every time they touched the surface, it felt like they were going to find the back of the net. Since Grolnic returned from his injury a few weeks ago, the line has really hit it’s stride and has carried a bulk of the offensive load in the last few games. This trio will be key for Chippewa this weekend against Janesville.
BATTLE FOR WISCONSIN
The Jets and Steel have now met 50 times with Janesville holding a 25-22-3 record over those meetings. The Steel held the advantage last season going 6-4 in the contests including a 3-1 home record at the Chippewa Area Ice Arena. Chippewa has only lost one game so far in front of the home crowd which came on opening night against Kenai River on Sept. 9. A battle for 1st place in the Midwest Division is up for grabs this weekend and should be a matchup to circle throughout this season with the Jets and Steel meeting a total of 10 times.