Bulls Look to Spring Into Win Column At Jr. Blues

IN A NUTSHELL:

North Iowa begins its final extended road stretch of the season with its first visit to the Nelson Center.

 

NEXT HOME GAME:­

The Bulls welcome the Austin Bruins to the River City on Friday, March 11 to begin the home stretch with “Reading Stampede” night, featuring a book exchange at the game.

 

GETTING “2” A MILESTONE:

North Iowa defenseman Greg Japchen is on track to celebrate a career milestone with his 100^th North American Hockey League game, assuming a place in the lineup Friday night. Japchen joins Jack Mesic and Casey Roepke in reaching the 100-game mark in an NAHL uniform, while Jake LaRusso reached the century mark with the New Jersey Titans. The next North Iowa player on pace to play his 100^th NAHL contest is Sean Vlasich, who comes into the weekend with 93 NAHL games under his belt.

 

A “LINC” TO THE PAST:

After hosting the Jr. Blues back in December, the Bulls make their first-ever trip to Springfield for Friday and Saturday’s games – this week’s visit to the capital city is the first by a Mason City-based team since November 15, 2008, when future Ohio State defenseman Alex Carlson scored the North Iowa Outlaws’ only goal in a 4-1 loss. The Outlaws went 6-8-1 at the Nelson Center, including an overtime loss to close out the team’s final postseason run in 2009.

 

LET’S GET TOGETHER:

North Iowa’s most recent game last Saturday night made Mason City hockey history once again, with more than 1,500 fans packing into the Mason City Arena to watch the Bulls face off against the Bobcats. Last Saturday’s attendance is the largest yet for the Bulls since COVID restrictions curtailed attendance last year in Mason City to a maximum of 1,100 fans, and it was also the largest crowd ever to witness a North American Hockey League game in Mason City. Last Saturday’s crowd would have busted the “Barn,” which saw its biggest NAHL crowd of 1,457 fans on March 24, 2007 for a 4-3 win over the Alaska Avalanche – the teams combined to go an incredible 7-for-23 on the power play in that game.

 

HEAVY HITTERS:

The two teams combined to score 16 goals in their weekend get-together two weeks before Christmas, and two players in particular handled a hefty chunk of the scoring in those two games. Dylan Gajewski notched a hat trick in the Friday night affair, a 4-3 overtime win that included an overtime winner for Gajewski in just his third game with the team. Hagen Moe would score two goals in that game before scoring another one in a 6-3 win the following night – that night was a particularly potent one for the Bulls’ power play, however, with a pair of goals in the contest.