*Photo Contributed by Juan Carlos Wood – @photosbyjcw on Instagram
This upcoming weekend, the Wisconsin Windigo will host the Springfield Jr. Blues for the first of two back-to-back series. The Windigo will host the Jr. Blues on Friday, Jan. 9 and Saturday, Jan. 10 at the Ponds of Brookfield before the two sides travel to Springfield next weekend for two games. Both puck drops in the opening series are slated for 7:35 PM CST.
Entering this weekend’s series, the Windigo are fresh off a two-game sweep to start the calendar year with a pair of victories over the Janesville Jets. Wisconsin won the opening contest of the series 6-2 on Friday, Jan. 2 off a two-goal performance from center Josh Sardo. The Windigo dominated on both sides of the ice, including their work defensively in an effort highlighted by goaltender Easton Cody, who made 33 saves in net.
One night later, the Windigo traveled to Janesville and took care of business once more, taking home a 4-2 win. Their victory was fueled by a hat trick of goals from second-year winger Beau Kralovec, who returned to the lineup after missing multiple series with an upper body injury. In net, Max Larsson made his Windigo debut and recorded 22 saves on the way to his second overall win in the NAHL this season.
For Springfield, the Jr. Blues enter the series after losing two games against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs last weekend. Springfield fell 3-1 on Friday, Jan. 2 before forcing overtime in a 2-1 loss on Saturday, Jan. 10.
The Windigo and Blues have seen each other just twice this season. Both games took place at the Nelson Center in Springfield, where the Windigo won the first game 3-2 before the Jr. Blues took the second matchup 6-2. Overall, Wisconsin leads the all-time matchup 20-6 since the 2022-23 campaign.
Heading into the weekend slate, the Windigo have a 19-12-1 record through 32 games this season. They trail the 18-11-4 Jr. Blues, who have played 33 games this season, by one point in the Midwest Division standings. Due to their pair of wins last weekend, the Windigo made it back into the NAHL Power Rankings for the first time in nearly one month. They rank 10th and are just a handful of spots behind their division rivals, the Fairbanks Ice Dogs and Minnesota Wilderness.
Leading the Windigo offensively, team captain Alexios Georgaklis has 31 points across 32 games this season. He has 75 career points across 98 total games with the Windigo, which ranks sixth on the all-time leaderboard.
Behind Georgaklis, center Peyton Mithmuangneua and winger Brendan Finley both have 19 points on the year. In net, Easton Cody leads the team with a 9-7-0 record and a .899 save percentage across 17 appearances this season.
Puck Drop on Friday, Jan. 9 is set for 7:35 PM CST. Tickets for each game can be purchased from the team’s website and can also be accessed using this link. If you can’t be there in person, all Windigo home and away games can be streamed on NATV. Visit nahltv.com for more details.
