All 10 Midwest Junior Hockey League teams are in action this weekend, with the Bloomington Jr. Blaze and Great Lakes Lightning seeing their first games of the season.

The MWJHL has a total of 12 games total – four Friday night, five on Saturday night and three on Sunday.

Both teams making their season debuts have nothing but optimism at this point.

“We are looking forward to opening our season this weekend against the Soo Firehawks,” Bloomington head coach Zac Pearson said. “We’re expecting these games to be a hard-fought battle. I am excited to see how my players react to being in game situations, for this is the first game for most of my players since last year. We are excited that we are on the road this weekend so are players can have some bonding time with each other and get more acquainted.”

“We couldn't be more excited to get down to business and see how we stack up to what looks to be a very good Hartland team,” added Great Lakes captain Andrew Shalawylo. “Everyone on the team has been itching to get some games under our belt. This weekend will be a tough test, but we welcome the challenge.”

Bloomington plays three in Sault Ste. Marie at Big Bear Ice Arena, with Sunday’s game being a “home” game for the Blaze.

The Lightning starts Friday and Saturday against the undefeated Hartland Hounds at the Hartland Sports Center and finish up on home ice at the Great Lakes Sports City on Sunday versus the Dayton Aeros.

“A win like (Wednesday night at Michigan) can really pick us up as a team,” Hartland captain Jake Henrikson said. “We have two games at home and we’ll come out flying and take it from there.”

Matt Passino scored all four goals as the Hounds edged the Ice Dogs 4-3 Wednesday night.

Dayton also plays three games in three days. The Aeros have a two-game set in Holland at the Edge Ice Arena against the River Bandits Friday and Saturday night and then Sunday against Great Lakes.

“We came off a weekend of progress where we got our first win and took three out of six points,” said Holland coach Jason McCrimmon. “It’s a start in right the direction on the long road of development we have in front of us. I know we have a task this weekend with Dayton on our hands and the strong goaltending they bring to the ice. I'm looking for our players to continue to step up and make the right decisions by putting pucks on net and crashing, as well as our positioning in our defensive zone. If we can do those things, we will come out with the outcome we want.”

The Rhinelander Street Cats host Tennyson Chevrolet at the Rhinelander Ice Arena Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, while Tennyson also plays Friday night in Toledoagainst the NWO Grrrowl.

The Grrrowl’s other game this weekend is Saturday night at home against the Michigan Ice Dogs at the Team Toledo Ice House.

Check back to www.mwjhl.com all weekend for game recaps.

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Matt Mackinder
Director of PR/Media Relations
Midwest Junior Hockey League