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This weekend is a defining road trip for the NA3HL Coulee Region Chill as they take on the St. Louis Jr. Blues in a 3 game series on the road.
TAIL OF THE TAPE
St. Louis is currently 2nd in the Central Division with a (11-2-1-1) record. The Blues took 3 of 4 points in an early season series with Granite City, the 1st place team in the West. Series split with North Iowa, Peoria & Milwaukee.
The Coulee Region Chill are (7-2-0-1) with 5 games in hand and in 4th place in the Central. Lost the first two games of the season series with Milwaukee 3-1, 2-1 on the road, then pulled the plug on the Power in La Crosse winning 11-3. Last weekend the CRC took 5 of 6 points from Peoria, losing the first game in a shootout 4-3, then taking the next 2 games convincingly 3-1 & 4-0.
GRUDGE MATCH
In 2017’18 the magical run by the La Crosse Freeze ended at the hands of the St. Louis Jr. Blues in a 5-0 shutout in the Fraser Cup Semi-Final in Romeoville IL.
HISTORY
The St. Louis Jr. Blues played one season in the Central Division in 2014’15 with the La Crosse Freeze and lost 6 of 8 games to the Freeze and missed the playoffs that year. La Crosse finished in 3rd place and lost in the 1st Round of the Playoffs to the Wisconsin Whalers.
GOALTENDER DUEL
St. Louis boasts the NA3HL Vaughn Goaltender of the Month in Mikael Foucher. The Quebec Canadian born goalie has a record of (7-2-1-0) with a 2.38 GAA and .908 SVG and 2 SO this season. Devin Naidow has won his last 4 starts (5-2-0-1 1.71 GAA, .941 SVG) in net for the Chill and is seeing the puck really well.
ROSTER CHANGES
The Coulee Region Chill will be without forward Laudon Poellinger this weekend after his call up to the NAHL Kenai River Brown Bears. Laudon has been playing some great hockey for the Chill early in the season (7-7-14, 2 PPG, 1 SHG, 1 GWG, +13). This will be Laudon’s 3rd opportunity in the NAHL as he started last season in Aberdeen, this season with Chippewa and now the Brown Bears. The La Crescent MN native has all the talent to stay in Kenai River. Players must always step up and with changes come opportunities and 1st year forward Gadel Khismatullin (Kazan, Russia) will get a shot at 2nd line with Flavien Fondadouze & Donny Schultz, adding speed and playmaking ability to an already quick line.
COACH VAILLANCOURT ON THIS WEEKEND
“This weekend is not only important for our club because we are facing a program that is ahead of us in the standings, it is also an early look at how we stack up against a program with a history of being a playoff powerhouse in the NA3HL. This is a team we will have to face again if we want to make a run for the Fraser Cup.”
GAME TIMES
FRIDAY 7 p.m.
SATURDAY 4 p.m.
SUNDAY 1 p.m.
Watch LIVE on hockeytv.com
Follow Onalaska Hilltoppers athletics throughout the 2018'19 school year on the Coulee Region Sports Network. To watch archived football broadcasts, click on the high school football tab.
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Thanks to all the GREAT sponsors that supported us through the 2018 high school football season and those that sponsor us all season long. It was another stellar year of Hilltopper football!
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Follow the NA3HL Coulee Region Chill all season long with Rik Franke on Coulee Region Sports Network.
Rik is in his 9th season as the voice of the Chill and 23rd year of broadcasting.
There were big changes in the Coulee Region hockey landscape this off season as the NAHL franchise was sold and moved to Chippewa Falls, to become the Chippewa Steel for the 2018'19 season, leaving behind the Chill brand.
Team owner Michelle Bryant made the decision to re-name her NA3HL franchise the Coulee Region Chill, formerly know as the La Crosse Freeze.
The Freeze had an outstanding 2017'18 season, defeating the North Iowa Bulls to win the Central Division Championship and advancing to the Fraser Cup Round Robin Tournament and fell just short in the semi-finals.
LISTEN to Chill HOME games on the CRSN MIXLR Channel below. Watch the Chill in HD on Hockeytv.com