Thursday, April 23, 2015

CJ Wilson Mazda Player of the Month: Tanner Laczynski


The Chicago Steel would like to congratulate forward Tanner Laczynski on being named the CJ Wilson Mazda Player of the Month. 

Laczynski scored four goals and added four assists over the Steel’s five games in April. He finished the season third in scoring on the Steel with 46 points (18g, 28a) in 57 games. The Shorewood, Ill. native posted four consecutive multi-point games in April, and earned CCM Forward of the Week honors in the final week of the regular season. The 6-foot, 182-pound forward is committed to the Ohio State University.

CJ Wilson Mazda is a proud sponsor of the Chicago Steel. With three dealerships across Chicagoland, CJ Wilson Mazda is one of the nation’s top Mazda dealer groups with one of the nation’s largest inventories. CJ Wilson isn’t your typical car guy, and CJ Wilson Mazda is not your typical car dealership. For more information on CJ Wilson Mazda, please visit http://zoomzoomnation.com/.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Scenes From the Steel Game

Photo by: MJB Images

Photo by: MJB Images

Photo by: MJB Images

Photo by: MJB Images
Photo by: MJB Images

Photo by: MJB Images
Photo by: MJB Images
Photo by: MJB Images

Photo by: MJB Images
Photo by: MJB Images
Photo by: MJB Images








WEEKEND MILESTONES

-Mikey Joyaux's goal on Friday gave him 20 points on the season. 
-Mason Bergh had two assists on Friday to give him 40 assists for the season. 
-John Ernsting scored his 10th goal of the season in Friday's win.
-Freddy Olofsson recorded his 60th point of the season on Friday.
-Ryan Blankemeier surpassed 30 points on the season in Cedar Rapids on Saturday.
-Connor Murphy recorded his 20th assist of the season, helping on Ryan Blankemeier's goal.



Friday, April 10, 2015

Chicago Steel Week 29 Game Preview

The Chicago Steel have two games in the final week of the 2014-15 regular season. Friday night, the Steel host the Green Bay Gamblers in their home finale. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the Steel head to Cedar Rapids, with play set to begin at 7:05 p.m.

The Steel (29-26-3) defeated the Youngstown Phantoms in Wednesday’s annual School Day Game, 5-4, in their first shootout of the season. Zach Osburn tallied the game-winning shootout goal and Lassi Yrjola made 41 saves for the win in net. Last weekend, the Steel split their two games against Bloomington and Team USA. The Thunder took down the Steel 4-3 on Friday, but Chicago bounced back on Saturday, defeating the U-17 Juniors, 4-3. Freddy Olofsson and Mason Bergh continue to lead the Steel in scoring, each with 59 points on the season. Dennis Gilbert and Jake Jaremko were both named to NHL Central Scouting’s “Final Rankings” of North American players eligible for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Gilbert and Jaremko came in at No. 58 and No. 110, respectively. Gilbert is now listed as the top-ranked USHL Defenseman eligible for the upcoming draft.

The Green Bay Gamblers (18-32-8) have struggled this season and are in last place in the Eastern Conference. The Gamblers dropped both of their games this past week, losing to Bloomington and Dubuque. The Steel are 3-1-1 against Green Bay this season. Mason Bergh has tallied ten points across the five meetings, including a six-point effort back in September. Lassi Yrjola is 2-0 against the Gamblers and recorded his only shutout of the season back in January in Green Bay.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (38-20-0) currently sit in second place in the Eastern Conference and have qualified for the postseason for the second straight year. Cedar Rapids lost both of their road games last weekend. They will travel to Waterloo on Friday prior to hosting the Steel on Saturday evening. Erik Foley (52 points), Andrew Oglevie (51 points) and Jiri Fronk (49 points) lead the RoughRiders in scoring. The Steel are 0-2-1 against Cedar Rapids this year. 

Tickets for Friday’s game can be purchased by calling the Steel Ticket Office at 630-594-1161 or by visiting tickets.chicagosteelhockeyteam.com. Following Friday’s home game, we will have Skate with the Steel open to all fans! Skate rentals will be available for $1.00.     

Friday, April 3, 2015

CJ Wilson Mazda Player of the Month: Carson Vance


The Chicago Steel would like to congratulate defenseman Carson Vance on being named the CJ Wilson Mazda Player of the Month.

In the month of March, Vance led all Steel defenseman in scoring with nine points (3g, 6a) all in his first 10 games with the team. Acquired from the Youngstown Phantoms at the trade deadline, Vance has been off to a hot start for the Steel, highlighted by an overtime game winning goal against Team USA on the 14th.

CJ Wilson Mazda is a proud sponsor of the Chicago Steel. With three dealerships across Chicagoland, CJ Wilson Mazda is one of the nation’s top Mazda dealer groups with one of the nation’s largest inventories. CJ Wilson isn’t your typical car guy, and CJ Wilson Mazda is not your typical car dealership. For more information on CJ Wilson Mazda, please visit http://zoomzoomnation.com/

Chicago Steel Week 28 Game Preview

The Chicago Steel have a pair of home games this weekend. Friday at 7:30 p.m., the Steel will face off against the Bloomington Thunder. Saturday, the Steel welcome Team USA to the Edge Ice Arena, with puck drop set for 7 p.m.

The Steel (27-25-3) split their two games last weekend. A road loss to Team USA U-18 was followed by a 2-1 home victory against Madison. John Schilling scored twice in the first period on Saturday and Lassi Yrjola made 33 saves to hold off Madison and secure the win. Freddy Olofsson tallied one goal and three assists over the weekend, tying him with Mason Bergh for the team points lead (56).  

The Bloomington Thunder (25-24-7) are tied with Chicago with 57 points this season. The Thunder dropped both of their games last weekend, falling to Sioux Falls and Waterloo. This season, Bloomington has won four of the five contests against the Steel, with all five decided by a single goal. Olofsson and Bergh have each recorded hat tricks against the Thunder this season.

Team USA’s two teams have compiled a record of 24-29-3 this season. The U-17 squad lost twice to Sioux City last weekend. The Steel took three of a possible four points against the U-17 Juniors in their January back-to-back. Connor Murphy (1g, 1a), John Ernsting (2a) and Mason Bergh (2a) each posted two points across the two games.

Tickets for both games can be purchased by calling the Steel Ticket Office at 630-594-1161 or by visiting tickets.chicagosteelhockeyteam.com.  Reminder that this is Housing Family Appreciation Weekend! All suites for housing billets are $100 on Friday and Saturday. Please call the Steel Ticket Office to reserve your suite!


Thursday, April 2, 2015

All Access: J.D. Dudek

Photo by: MJB Images
Prior to the United States Hockey League trade deadline in March, the Steel acquired forward J.D. Dudek from the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Hailing from Auburn, N.H., Dudek has made an immediate impact with the Steel scoring three goals and adding two assists in ten games. Dudek burst onto the hockey scene in High School, as he was fortunate enough to capture two state titles with two different schools. After captaining his prep school to the Small School State Championship one year ago, Dudek was selected by the New Jersey Devils in last year’s NHL Entry Draft. Dudek is committed to Boston College and will suit up for the Eagles at the conclusion of his USHL career. We had a chance to talk to the Steel Center about his accomplished past and his bright future.


Q: You’ve been with the Steel for close to one month now. How would you describe your first month in Chicago and what has that transition been like coming to a new team midseason?

A: It’s been awesome. The coaching staff and my teammates have all made the transition pretty easy for me and I’ve been able to produce here so that’s helped out a lot. City-wise, it has been very different because there is not much going on in Dubuque. We used to make hour and a half trips to Chipotle in Madison, and now I can go ten minutes down the road. It’s been great though, the city is great and the team is awesome.

Q: In your first weekend with the Steel, you scored the game-winning goal against your former team (Dubuque). What was that like to not only play against your former teammates but also to score the game-winning goal against them?

A: It was definitely different, especially with it being the first week since the trade. It was awesome to get back out on the ice with those guys and to get a couple wins with my new team. It was pretty fun and special.

Q: Your dad was a very accomplished college football player. When did you first start playing hockey and was there any push from your family to go the football route?

Photo by: MJB Images

A: There was no push at all. My parents were both good athletes and they never wanted to force me to play anything. I started playing hockey when I was 8 years old. The only thing my dad told me was that if I wasn’t going to play football he wanted me to try one thing, and that was the Punt, Pass and Kick Competition. So I tried that out and actually did well. I won the state competition and then regionals as well. Overall, I placed seventh nationally. But he has started to love hockey. He may even love watching hockey more than football now. He sets a timer for when the Bruins games are happening so he’s definitely grown to love the sport like I have.

Q: Can you talk about your high school playing career and what it was like to capture two state championships?

A: I played my freshman and sophomore year of high school at Pinkerton Academy (Derry, NH). I was lucky enough to play on a line with Zach Sanford, who is at Boston College this year and was drafted by the Capitols as well. It’s pretty rare to find that in a New Hampshire Division I public school. My sophomore year, his junior year, we won the state championship. After that, I transferred to Kimball Union Academy (Meriden, NH) for my junior/senior seasons. My senior year I was captain and we won the Small School Championship. My time there at prep school was awesome just because of the coaches and the players. I was coached by Coach [Mike] Levine my junior year, who is now the assistant coach at Brown. My senior year I was captain and coached by Coach [Tim] Whitehead, who was the coach at UMaine. So the whole experience was awesome.

Q: What was the college recruiting process like for you and what ultimately led to your commitment to Boston College?

A: To be honest, it was pretty different from what most kids go through. I know it’s a pretty long process for most but mine actually happened pretty quickly. I wasn’t really on anyone’s radar and then I was lucky enough to go to the National Camp, which is a pretty highly scouted tournament. I played really well and was in the top three in scoring by the end of the camp and I was pretty much on the phone the entire eight-hour ride back. I was fortunate enough to tour BC and get an offer from them, so the choice happened pretty quickly.  

Photo by: MJB Images

Q: Last year, you were drafted in the sixth round by the New Jersey Devils. Can you describe your draft day experience and what it meant to you to be drafted by the Devils?

A: I talked about it with my family and said that since it was my draft year, whether or not I get drafted I would love to go to Philly and soak in the experience. I was pretty certain I wasn’t going first round but my dad and I went anyway just to check it out. It was funny because I would look up at the board when they would call the player names, especially when it was a team that had talked to me. The team right before the Devils was a team that I had talked to pretty frequently and when they didn’t call my name, I put my head down. The Devils were the last team I talked to, two days before the draft, and when that pick happened it was the only time of the draft that I wasn’t looking up at the board. But overall it was special, and to go to New Jersey where it’s a world-class organization is awesome. I also have a couple buddies that were drafted there. The whole experience, to be there with my family, was surreal.

Q: Of all the things that you have accomplished in your hockey career, which stands out to you the most?

A: I’m a huge team guy so the Small School Championship we won at KUA definitely stands out. We had six or seven returning guys and 16 new guys coming in because we had 16 seniors the year before. And we had a brand new coach. So to captain that year and show leadership, we were able to completely turn it around after it was expected to not be a great year.

Q: How do you feel going into this weekend against Bloomington and Team USA?

A: We feel confident. We had a great start after the trade deadline. It went down hill a little bit since then but we’ve been doing all the right things. I think we will be able to get back on track this weekend. It’s actually the first time my dad will be here in Chicago as well so it will be a special weekend for me.

Photo by: MJB Images